Jeremy Posnansky QC: The Supreme Court deploys its Stinger, but does not pierce the corporate veil

Today's decision by the Supreme Court in Petrodel v Prest puts reality back into an important area of family law. In October 2012 the Court of Appeal - well two judges of the Court - rejected 30 years of established law and practice and threw some family practitioners into a state of near panic. "Cheats Charter" they cried. Yasmin Prest for whom Farrer & Co. have acted since 2010 was not daunted and took the case to the Supreme Court. She has been rewarded by a unanimous 7-0 decision in her favour. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal on the second of Mrs Prest's two main grounds of appeal that the companies held on trust for the husband the properties which the trial judge Moylan J had ordered to be transferred to her. The decision is of importance not only to her but to others in a similar position.

As is well known the majority of the Court of Appeal (Rimer and Patten LJJ Thorpe LJ dissenting) held that...

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