English judges tell warring spouses 'Resolve financial disputes without courts'

Most mediators and almost all family lawyers have heard clients say that there is no point in attending a meeting because they know their partner so well that it will be a waste of time.

But if there is no negotiation if offers are said to be 'non-negotiable' or there is no attempt at compromise then the continuing litigation takes an enormous amount of court time (for which taxpayers pay and which deprive other needy cases of the attention of the judges who are involved in these lengthy court cases) and costs the clients a huge amount of money. The judges are determined that these costs come to an end. The courts work to an overriding objective of proportionality in each case.

One former couple have had pressure from two High Court judges to deal with their dispute privately. The first judge was Mr Justice Holman who tries to have all his court hearings held in open court ie anyone can attend to hear the details of the financial circumstances of separating and divorcing couples. Most people really do not want that to happen. In addition to...

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