October has been an action-packed month for family law. From Supreme Court judgments to an array of conferences and the event which has been described as the family law equivalent of the Oscars - the Family Law Awards. This update is packed with the events over a very busy October.
Supreme Court judgments in Sharland and Gohil
On 14 October the Supreme Court
handed down judgments in favour of two wives whose husbands had
failed to properly disclose their assets in financial remedy proceedings.
Sharland v Sharland [2015] UKSC 60 will now return to the High Court for further directions whilst Moylan J's order in
Gohil v Gohil [2015] UKSC 61 was reinstated.
Jordan Publishing PSL Amy Royce-Greensill has helpfully provided summaries of
Sharland and
Gohil in a nutshell and Hayley Trim of Irwin Mitchell, who represented both wives, has also
provided her insight.
Family Law Conference
The action-packed and insightful Family Law Conference 2015 was chaired byNicholas Francis QC. The keynote speaker was The Rt Hon Lady Justice King DBE, who addressed the delegates on such issues as the need for litigants in person to comply with the rules as much as any other party. She also noted that every week there are solicitors appearing before her acting pro bono, which struck a chord with many delegates following the recent LASPO changes to legal aid eligibility.
The morning's speakers included Piers Pressdee QC, who covered recent developments in Private Children law, Martin Loxley and Grant Howell, who covered Resolving Finance cases and Christopher Wagstaffe QC, who covered 'Essential Hot Topics - the importance of being earnest' on the subject of disclosure - very topical, albeit that the decision in
Sharland and
Gohil had yet to be handed down at that stage.
The afternoon was kicked off by District Judge Julie Exton, who provided a very enlightening session on the work of the Family Drug and Alcohol Court. She was followed by His Honour Judge Stephen Wildblood QC, discussing 'The Way We Are' following the introduction of LASPO. In the final two sessions, Charles Hale QC discussed the powers of the court to vary post-nuptial settlements, and Zimran Samuel discussed the key issue of FGM and the current law and practice in that area.
All in all, an action-packed and informative conference covering an array of tricky practice areas. As always, the conference was followed by the highlight of the family law calendar - the Family Law Awards.
