Compensation Claims on Divorce – how exceptional do they have to be after RC v JC [2020] EWHC 466(Fam)?

• Compensation was established as the third strand, along with needs and sharing, by which financial claims on divorce are determined in the landmark case of McFarlane [2006] UKHL24.  Whilst compensation enjoyed a brief moment in the spotlight when Mrs McFarlane claim to be entitled to compensation was updated by the House of Lords, thus establishing the concept, it fell rapidly behind its two now commonplace contemporaries of needs and sharing and  hardly ever features in negotiations and judgments on financial remedy claims.
• Whilst subsequent case law considered the basis of “relationship generated disadvantage” , it was not until RC v JC that a substantial sum was ordered for compensation as a separate element of the award.
• In this webinar, we will look at how the principle of relationship generated disadvantage has developed and why so few cases have succeeded in establishing the payment of compensation and provide a comprehensive update on this area of the law since McFarlane.

The team which acted for the successful wife in RC v JC will explain how difficult it is to establish a claim for compensation and the very high threshold that has to be reached before any such award will be made.  They will also look at the practical considerations that apply and why the judge sounded a warning that his judgment should not be seen as any sort of “green light” for launching a claim for compensation unless the circumstances are truly exceptional