Serving clients across the UK, from offices in Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Yatton, Wedmore and Clevedon
How Much Might A Marriage Breakdown Cost You?
September 2006
Few appeals have been so eagerly awaited by matrimonial lawyers as those heard by the House of Lords in the cases of Miller v Miller and McFarlane v McFarlane which made front page news in the papers recently.
Embracing issues as diverse as the significance of short marriages, the relevance and nature of conduct in determining the division of income and the practicality of clean breaks, the two cases were described by many as landmark but how do they effect the average husband and wife on the street?
The ultimate objective said the Court is "to give each party an equal start on the road to independent living". The right to share is as applicable to short marriages as long ones, although there appears to be an exception in short marriage cases for certain types of matrimonial assets. In a long marriage inherited or non-matrimonial property may well merge into the marital assets entitling the claimant to a share. Conduct is only to be taken into account in an exceptional case where it would be inequitable to disregard and where it can clearly be said that one party has been very much more to blame than the other. Special contribution arguments should be subject to the same test.
In addition to the sharing entitlement a person claiming may have an additional claim for compensation related to disadvantages suffered as a result of the marriage which includes the loss of opportunity to share in a future high income. Maintenance should not always be confined to meeting maintenance needs. The desire for a clean break should not be allowed to create unfairness or to deny compensation.
However all of this is subject to meeting needs and in so many cases this becomes the overriding factor. Few of us are millionaires or footballers/footballers wives with fantastically high incomes and it remains to be seen how, for the average husband and wife in the street these two headlining cases will make any real difference. So much for the courts desires that English law should not be too flexible. It must try to achieve some consistency and predictability. This is not only to secure that so far as possible like cases are treated alike but also to enable and encourage the parties to negotiate their own solutions as quickly and cheaply as possible.
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