I found this text in an Oxfam and it made surprisingly enjoyable reading.

The book aims to inform people going through divorce proceedings how the English courts are going to divide their money. The author has form: he has practised as a barrister in Bristol and worked as a deputy district judge.

As a law student, it struck me that resolving family disputes must be one of the areas where it is the hardest to lay down persuasive substantive principles. How can an outsider, however well-informed, possibly make a fair and just decision on matters such as:

  • who is to keep how much of the family home (if any)?
  • how much a breadwinner is to support the life of her former partner (if at all)?

But of course these issues do come up in court and judges need to do the best they can.

While I have no expertise to assess the content, it is very enjoyable to see a practitioner summarise the essence of his practice area in little more than 100 pages, covering the full spectrum of:

  • practical matters (e.g. whether to use a lawyer, how to choose a solicitor, how to choose a barrister)
  • substantive principles (e.g. the starting point of equality; what to do with inherited money; “clean break” and what might make it impossible)
  • procedure (e.g. FDR; starting point of no order as to costs in FDR; what happens if a third party is involved; what happens if there is inadequate disclosure of assets)

The impression I come away with is that a competent “matrimonial finance” lawyer (as they are known in the lingo) needs to be financially savvy and pragmatic beyond all else.

The bread and butter will be something like hashing out living arrangements (which will affect whether someone buys/rents; whether either or both parties need to move etc) or working out a tax-efficient division of assets (along with financial advisors, estate agents etc).

There will (of course) be the very small minority who do very high-value cases involving offshore trusts and groups of companies etc. But at the end of the day the job is just to help a formerly loving couple go their separate ways as gracefully as they can.