Does the decision of Standish v Standish [2025] UKSC 26 exacerbate inequality in divorce outcomes by unfairly advantaging the wealthier spouse?

Olivia Hesson, Winner of 4PB’s Financial Remedy Essay Competition

In this essay for Family Law Journal, Olivia Hesson, a LLM Law (Juris Doctor) student at the University of York, discusses the implications of the recent Standish decision for financial remedy law, especially in cases between two divorcing spouses where there is an unequal share of wealth.

Olivia examines what insight the overarching fairness principle can bring to the decision, and examines what we can learn from other cases, such as White v White, about the concept of equality in decisions on divorce outcomes.  

She also explores Standish through the lens of the process of ‘matrimonialisation’ and discusses some criticisms of the decision such as that it could appear to allow wealthy spouses to shield their assets in a divorce.

Overall, she argues that, despite initial appearances, the Standish decision does not exacerbate inequality in divorce outcomes by unfairly advantaging the wealthier spouse, and actually progresses financial remedy law by demonstrating how the sharing principle can be properly applied so as not to advantage one party over another.

The full article has published in the January issue of Family Law.  Find out more or request a free 1-week trial of Family Law journal. Please quote: 100482

Read the full article here.