We are delighted to bring you the Community Comes First edition of the HNW Divorce Magazine, where you will get the latest insights from all professionals whose practice encompasses or touches upon the HNW Divorce community.

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All materials for the Schedule 1 and unmarried couples event can be found here 

A flood of material released by the courts of England and Wales has ensured that the message has quickly spread that, while it may not be quite as usual, every step is and will be taken to ensure that court business continues. 

The Split, a BBC One drama which follows the personal and legal challenges faced by the Defoes (a family of female divorce lawyers to high-end and celebrity clients), returned to our screens last month after the success of its first series back in Spring 2018.

Getting divorced is never easy and quite often, splitting up the finances is one of the most stressful parts of the divorce process. As financial advisers, we cannot take the emotional stress away but we can make the financial discussion easier and in some cases, we can find ways to improve the overall tax situation. I have even seen one situation in which a divorce became the most viable option to achieve a specific financial goal… more on this later.

Pensions can be of huge significance for divorcing high-net-worth couples. The most recent ONS figures show that for the wealthiest 10% of households, private pensions amount to 44% of overall wealth, compared to 30% held in property and 22% held in other investments.

Although both altruistic and compensated surrogacy in the England is legal, it is important to note that English surrogacy contracts are not legally enforceable and therefore wholly reliant on goodwill for their execution.

Disputes within HNW Divorces are increasingly common.

Clients can spend considerable sums and years fighting for a successful Matrimonial Order (Order), which they envisage will be paid after an Order is obtained.

Many practitioners will appreciate that Jersey is a self-governing Crown Dependency with constitutional rights of self-government and judicial independence. It follows that orders made in the courts of England and Wales are not enforceable as of right in this jurisdiction. We focus in this article on three common scenarios we see when such cross-jurisdictional considerations arise and the steps you can take to ensure that the terms of such an order are honoured.

The Coronavirus pandemic reminds us of Simone de Beauvoir’s “All men are mortal” Both encourage us to re-evaluate our priorities, prompting us to seize new opportunities otherwise ignored under the “business as usual” regime.

The UK has left the EU.  But existing laws continue throughout the transition period, end December 2020.  Some had lobbied for EU family laws nevertheless to continue.  In February 2020 the UK government confirmed EU laws will end completely.  But the UK is probably the leading jurisdiction for international families and the EU represents a significant number of the independently mobile cross-border families.  It is essential there is future cooperation.  Moreover, what will be the effect and impact on high net worth families? 

Our client was successful in her claim for “compensation” for what Mr Justice Moor described as her “relationship generated disadvantage”. The principle of compensation first appeared in the family courts in the 2006 judgment of Miller v Miller; McFarlane v McFarlane [2006] UKHL 24. Since then, there have been no reported cases where the principle has been argued successfully, until now

In Re N (A child) [2020] EWFC 35 the High Court was asked to consider whether judicial delays abroad caused by COVID-19 was a reason to depart from the general practice recommended in the decision in Re S (A Child) (Abduction: Hague Convention) [2018] 4 WLR 108 namely that the court should defer making its own return order until an application under the 1980 Hague Convention has been determined in the other member state.

Living through the Coronavirus creates a heightened sense of stress and anxiety for us all. Decisions that used to require no thought at all are now, for many of us, very fraught: Should I go to the supermarket? How should I take my daily exercise? Do we have enough food this week? How can I support my elderly relatives? It is an extremely challenging time.

That is to be the position in New York after Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on 18 April 2020 that he had signed an Executive Order allowing New Yorkers to obtain marriage licences remotely and authorising clerks to perform ceremonies via video conference.

The media has been at great pains to emphasize the huge surge in cases of domestic abuse during the course of the Coronavirus lockdown.  In some areas there has been reported some 400  cases over the lockdown period which has lasted a month.  Translated across the country and in fact the world, the case numbers are ever growing. 

Debt, death and divorce: often grimly cited as the estate agent’s best friends, they are also three main harbingers of trust litigation. The last of these can be particularly troublesome for trustees, who can find themselves in a difficult position when a beneficiary (or beneficiaries) of a discretionary trust divorce, especially when it is taking place in the English courts

Parents are increasingly reluctant to provide financial assistance to their adult children because they are concerned that the money could be lost in a divorce. We are often approached by anxious parents who are keen to ensure that family wealth intended for their children and grandchildren won’t fall into the hands of their estranged son or daughter in law, should they later divorce.

We are adapting to a whole new normal – There’s been an overnight shift to remote working for almost the entire population and the court system which has remained unchanged for decades is creaking and in many instances no longer available. This is therefore a time for alternatives to court to come into their own. We are lucky that over the years we have developed a whole range of DR. All of the forms of DR can be undertaken virtually – whether by Skype/zoom/loop up and many accredited practitioners are waiting to help.

The Coronavirus pandemic has no doubt created fear around the world. With school closures, travel bans and the lockdown of many cities around the world, many of us are left wondering where the safest place for us is to ride out the coming months. Whilst it is completely understandable to want to protect ourselves, our families and our children, if looking for a safe haven results in you removing your children from their country of residence, without the consent of the other parent, you could find yourself facing civil and criminal repercussions.

Reports in some media and newspapers today, Sunday 8th March 2020, indicate that HM Courts & Tribunals Service is moving ahead with coronavirus containment plans to have more Skype type video-conferencing court hearings, particularly and initially in criminal cases, to reduce the need for use of public transport and public gathering. The family law profession will follow developments closely as it can only be a short step to the same measures in the Family Court.

While we are all aware of the highly complex legal, financial, commercial and international issues raised by HNW divorces, how much do we know about the personalities that have evolved within this section of society? What might we encounter of the psychology and emotional aspects of the parties involved? HNW and UHNW individuals face and develop a set of challenges within life that might be unfamiliar to those who do not inhabit that world of affluence. The very nature of their circumstances allows them to distance and detach themselves from the everyday concerns that occupy most of the planet, the need to survive financial demands on daily basis, to make ends meet. Consequently there is often little awareness, sympathy or empathy for the human and existential struggles that they, like every other human on the planet, have to face.

The Oscar winning Marriage Story, released on Netflix, is a compellingly accurate, often painful to watch, account of the fallout when a marriage ends, and the damaging impact adversarial litigation can have. As family lawyers, we are all used to scoffing at TV dramas bearing little resemblance to the reality (“did you see? They used completely the wrong court forms!?  And just IMAGINE speaking to your clients like that!”), but Marriage Story really is something different.

While we are all aware of the highly complex legal, financial, commercial and international issues raised by HNW divorces, how much do we know about the personalities that have evolved within this section of society? What might we encounter of the psychology and emotional aspects of the parties involved? HNW and UHNW individuals face and develop a set of challenges within life that might be unfamiliar to those who do not inhabit that world of affluence. The very nature of their circumstances allows them to distance and detach themselves from the everyday concerns that occupy most of the planet, the need to survive financial demands on daily basis, to make ends meet. Consequently there is often little awareness, sympathy or empathy for the human and existential struggles that they, like every other human on the planet, have to face.

This article briefly discusses two cross-jurisdictional issues arising in foreign  HNW divorces on which we are regularly instructed to advise from a Jersey law perspective.Given Jersey's status as a leading and highly regulated, offshore financial services centre, we frequently encounter HNW and UHNW divorces featuring Jersey trust structures. In almost all cases, Jersey trusts are administered by professional trustees regulated under our Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 by the Jersey Financial Service Commission and further subject to the supervision of the Royal Court of Jersey. When beneficiaries of a Jersey trust become involved in foreign divorce proceedings, it is helpful for them to understand that the trustee(s) have a number of important decisions to make...

Insolvency proceedings are a potential option for clients to consider in situations where there are unpaid debts, judgments and orders and/or concerns over the dissipation of assets.

It is recognised that insolvency can seem a nuclear option for enforcement but insolvency proceedings can be an effective strategy to maximise recoveries where a client has an outstanding award.

It is almost ten years since the landmark decision of the Supreme Court in Radmacher v Granatino [2010] UKSC 42 changed the law on prenuptial agreements, giving their enforceability a huge boost when holding that the parties would be held to their bargain in the event of a divorce where the agreement ‘’was freely entered into by each party with a full appreciation of its implications, unless in the circumstances prevailing it would not be fair to hold the parties to their agreement’’.

The World Health Authority is on the verge of declaring the coronavirus a pandemic, a disease found significantly on more than one continent and being spread frequently between people.  How should family lawyers take this into account in the work they are undertaking for their clients, particularly international clients or those with assets abroad?  This summary note is intended for England and Wales but has relevance for all family lawyers around the world.

Jane Keir is one of the most well known and recognisable faces of family law. As co-chair of our inaugural conference we got her thoughts on the industry and what to look out for on the 19th May. 

The Family Court has demonstrated a willingness to assist a party to enforce a financial remedy order by allowing use of confidential documents where there is evidence of deliberate attempts by the respondent to frustrate English court’s orders, and where there is no evidence that the applicant acted unlawfully in accessing confidential materials.

In Re I-L (children) the Court of Appeal allowed the father’s appeal and held that where the 1996 Hague Convention applies between two countries, if a 1980 Hague Convention application is made and is not successful, the applicable jurisdictional provisions are those of the 1996 Hague Convention, particularly Art 11, and the inherent jurisdiction is not available to use. Eleri Jones, barrister at 1GC Family Law, who represented the appellant father, considers the implications.

Paul Hollywood is a highly public judge on one of Television’s most popular shows, with over 6 million viewers watching him and his taste buds push Great British Bake Off contestants to tears, frustration and occasional joy but when it comes to his divorce, he and his wife of over 20 years have chosen for their financial arrangements to be adjudicated in private.

Boris Berezovsky was born in January 1946. He was a Russian business Oligarch, government official and mathematician. Berezovsky was politically opposed to the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin...

In just ten years, cryptoassets have become a £100 billion industry. We now face the alarming prospect that millions of pounds can be hidden behind a few lines of computer code without ever touching a bank account. If your soon-to-be ex-partner has made a fortune with Bitcoin, how do you get a share?

Over the last 50 years we have seen the dynamic response of the law in England and Wales to developments to modern families such as adoption, IVF, surrogacy, civil partnerships and same sex marriage. It is therefore disappointing that further, much needed and planned legislative reform in the sphere of family law with the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill (introducing No fault Divorce) and the Domestic Abuse Bill (increasing the protection for victims of domestic abuse) has fallen away due to the election

Bill Hewlett is pioneering a new approach to divorce and separation. We caught up with him prior to Bill speaking at our inaugural conference

Given the increasing focus on HNW divorce litigation and the prevalence these cases can get from the media, we caught up with Nick Holland from McDermott Will & Emery to get his different perspective on divorce litigation. 

Prior to speaking at our inaugural conference we caught up with Laura Rosefield, one of the leading Divorce consultants