There have been a few articles and news announcements recently that have caught my eye, which are worth a mention in a round up.
Biggest contested divorce payout?
The London Evening Standard reported on a recent case in the High Court where Mrs Justice King reportedly awarded £54 million to the wife in a contested divorce. It is said to be the biggest award since the widely reported case of Charman v Charman.
Women happier than Men following a divorce?
Family Law Week reported on a research study published in Economica which found that women were “significantly more content than usual for up to five years following the end of their marriages”, where as men only felt “slightly happier”.
Rise in Over-60’s divorce rate
The Office of National Statistics released an analysis of the trends in divorce rates and remarks on the increase in divorces amongst the over 60’s, where as the overall number of people getting divorced has fallen. It looks at 2011 statistics, and makes interesting reading. It can be found here.
New child maintenance rules come into force – Child Maintenance Service
The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 (Commencement No 11 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2013 (SI 2013/1860) came into force on 29 July 2013 and brings about new rules for calculating child support maintenance to certain applications made on or after 29 July 2013. This does not apply to all applications, but for new applications made on or after 29 July where there are two or three qualifying children with the same parent with care and same non-resident parent. There has to be no existing case. These amendments are already in force for new applications for families of 4 or more children, the pilot group which began in December 2012.
It provides for new calculations for maintenance payments, and marks the way for the gradual phasing out of the old scheme. More information can be found here on the Government’s press release and a more detailed analysis will follow shortly.
Image by Marcus Jeffrey under a Creative Commons Licence
