Rhys Taylor: Reforming s.25 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973?

Lord Rosebury cautioned "Change! Change! What do you want with change? Aren't things bad enough already?" The Law Commission appears to be made of sterner stuff.

On the 11 September 2012 it launched an important consultation paper entitled "Matrimonial Property Needs and Agreements." The consultation is seeking views on possible future amendment to s.25 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973.

As many family lawyers know only too well   there  is no statutory objective contained within s.25. The Law Commission gives the comparison with a bus driver being told how to drive a bus but not where to drive it. The law reports are awash with points of principle which ultimately boil down to ‘being fair;' like beauty a notoriously subjective concept.  Practitioners and parties must hack through the jungle of complex and often contradictory case law in search of elucidation of the principles of needs sharing compensation and now post Radmacher autonomy.

A further point of notorious difficulty ...

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