Family Law: Divorce, Financial Orders, and Protective Orders Analysis

This report examines a family law case involving Laura and Sajid, focusing on the legal options available to Laura to end her marriage due to adultery and unreasonable behavior. It analyzes the legal procedures for divorce, including filing petitions and obtaining decrees, considering the implicatio...Read More

Family Law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Case Scenario...............................................................................................................................3
What legal options are open to her to bring her marriage to an end. Advise her on her options
under the current law and also following the coming into force of the Divorce, Dissolution and
Separation Bill.............................................................................................................................4
What financial and property orders the court may make on divorce and how the various factors
in s.25 MCA 1973 might be applied here....................................................................................5
What orders she could obtain to protect her from Sajid and to enable her to get back into the
family home, and the criteria which would be considered by the court in the making of those
orders...........................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Family law is defined as the law which simply explains about the legal practice which
focuses towards the issues that involves within the family relationship. It includes, adaptation,
divorce, child custody and many more. This law is mainly helpful in that particular situation
where family member is having any of the issues for maintaining their relationship in a peaceful
manner. This law simply helps to resolve their issues and tries to bring out the best solution so
that person can spend their future life happily without facing any of the legal or unethical issues.
In context of the file, one of the case study will be solved were different question will be
addressed which is related with the way to end the marriage with the help of current law.
Following with it, roles of court for declaring the decision regarding financial and property as per
the guidelines of section 25 of Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. Finally, best appropriate way will
be identified to resolve the issue so that both of them can spend their life together in future
period of time as well.
MAIN BODY
Case Scenario
The case is between Laura and Sajid. Here, Laura works as a waitress in a bar where she
met Sajid who went for holidays in Spain. After they met with each other, they start to date each
other and married in the year 2010. Sajid told Laura about his uncle who is wealthy. Both of
them earns healthy amount of money where Sajid has a package of £70000 per year where as she
is an entrepreneur. Due to new invention of hair tie, her business has become famous globally.
She sold her business in the year 2016 at the price of £2 million but still holds intellectual right
which allows her to earn 1 million every year. There were number of other property which they
had such as four bed room house of around £1.5 million, owns apartment French Alps of worth
£500000 and around other investment of £2 million (Abrams and et. al., 2015). Also Sajid was
awarded £50000 as an accidental claim. They were happy with the marriage but she found it is
not working anymore because of the external affairs of Sajid. Looking at the situation Laura
started to live in her parents’ house which is around 10 miles from Sajid House.

What legal options are open to her to bring her marriage to an end. Advise her on her options
under the current law and also following the coming into force of the Divorce, Dissolution and
Separation Bill
In present scenario, entering into the contract is very easy but it is very difficult to follow
the exit process. It is because there are lots of guidelines which is to be followed for the purpose
of ending the process. It is exactly same in the process of Divorce as well because there are
number of guidelines which are to be followed in it because once spouse starts to live separately
then it is mandatory to share the property so that both of them can spend their life happily. Also,
if spouse have a child then in that respective condition they can allow him to spend his life in an
appropriate manner. In the same manner, Family Law Act, 1986 is one of the most important law
which gives guidelines to the family and how they are required to spend their life. As this
question speaks about the separation from the marriage of Sajid and Laura, it is necessary to
understand that proper laws and regulations must be followed so that proper justice can be given
to the either of the parties.
In context of UK, the law related to Divorce has been changed since the day of
introduction of marriage of same sex. It is necessary to understand that proper guidelines must be
followed at the time of having a divorce else it will be difficult task to end the marriage. The
cases of divorce simply try to identify about the assets which partners have and what amount of
assets must be given to either of the parties (Carbone and Cahn, 2013). As Sajid and Laura wants
to be apart from each other, where legal procedure is required to be followed. Here, application
is required to deposited within the court for the purpose of passing the dissolution order where
there are three process through which they can get divorce and they are Filing a divorce petition,
applying for a decree nisi and aapplying for a decree absolute. There are other necessary
requirements which is needed to be fulfilled for applying for the divorce and they are:
 The time period of one year must be completed to the marriage
 Secondly, their relations should have been broken down completely,
 It is necessary to recognize marriage as per UK guidelines,
 Permanent home should be there within England or Wales (Divorce and Dissolution in
England & Wales, 2020).

All of this condition must be satisfied in order to take divorce, were other documents are also
needed to submit such as marriage certificate, and the main reason behind the separation. Even
there is the requirement for proving that what were the main cause of seeking the divorce.
Looking at the scenario of the case, it is necessary to understand that Laura’s husband
had a affair with other women as well which falls under the category of Adultery. It means that
person has a sexual affair with someone else to which she or he cannot afford and makes it clear
about the living apart. This is one of the point on which Laura can take divorce from his
husband. On the other side, there was the unreasonable behavior from the side of Sajid towards
Laura. As he made false statement against his uncle as a wealthy person as a investor in India,
were Laura found that Uncle is not a rich person and works as a driver. On this point Sajid
started to do physical violence which is against the law as it is not allowed in any of the
circumstances. Even the violence was so disturbing that their child become extremely distressed.
In addition, there were some of the silent phone calls made by Sajid to Laura’s Parents where he
was to abusive and also he texted a threatened message like never to leave her along as it will not
allow to her to return back to the family home (Baker, 2012)(McCandless, 2012). All of this
points can easily allow Laura to take decision to be apart from each other.
In short, if Laura wants to take divorce from Sajid she can take two of the important point
into consideration which is Adultery S1(2)(a) and Unreasonable behaviour s1(2)(b) since
recent time period. Both of this points can easily allow her to succeed in the case but, it will be
her responsibility to prove the points into the court as facts presented in the court matter for
declaring any of the decision by panel or jury members. LIVINGSTONE-STALLARD V
LIVINGSTONE-STALLARD: FD 1974, is one of the landmark case for the unreasonable
behaviour which can support Laura for taking the divorce from Sajid (LIVINGSTONE-
STALLARD V LIVINGSTONE-STALLARD, 2019). But, petition is required to be filed by
Laura where she must be able to present the facts and that is one of the way to take divorce by
fulfilling all of the legal requirement is mandatory to be completed by the party which is willing
to take divorce.
What financial and property orders the court may make on divorce and how the various factors in
s.25 MCA 1973 might be applied here.
Divorce is one of the lengthy process which requires lots of terms and condition which is
to be fulfilled and if in any of the condition it misses out then legal actions can be taken easily. It

is necessary to understand that whenever any of this situation occurs the role of court increases
automatically because they are the one who must have to address the assets that needed to be
given to both the parties involved in the divorce case. It is crucial to divide the assets and
properties because it ultimately supports the person and the children then have because that
assets will allow them to spend their rest of the life. In order to deal with this particular situation
section 25 of Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 has been commenced. This law says about the
requirement which is to be fulfilled even once the divorce takes place. As Laura wants to live
separate form Sajid, it means she will require property and different types of assets to survive
and to provide qualitative life to her child named Max. Section 25 of MCS 1973 considers some
of the points before taking any of the decision. Some of the factors which are required to be
considered is mentioned below:
 Court will have an overview on a assets of the parties, so it is necessary for either of the
party to disclose about all of the property and assets they have with them. Also, if any of
the debt or liability is there then that is also needed to be disclosed (Golynker, 2015).
 The jury members also have the right to know about the income and earning capacity of
the parties as per schedule 5, part 5 of civil partnership act 2004. It will allow the judges
to find out the earning capacity, employment choices, future as well as past incomes.
 The third area which section 25 of MCA 1973 overviews is related with contributions of
the parties within the assets and other properties which they increased after getting into
the relation.
 Financial clean break orders in family proceedings is also overviewed by the judges of
the court (Jordan, 2016).
 It is necessary for the court to overview about the needs of the children of the family
where it will be determined about the power that how it must be exercised which also
includes where the child has a special need.
 Section 25 is wider as it overviews about all of the basic requirement which can plays the
huge role once the marriage ends and in the same manner, it is also necessary to overview
about the needs of the parties which must be fulfilled in order to survive the life.
 As, age of the parties and the time duration which they spend together in the marriage is
also necessary to be considered which means , it is necessary to overview so that detail

analysis can be done and what either of the party could have done if they had not live
together since starting (Horspool and Humphreys, 2012).
 Compensation, sharing and equity is the another point which will be considered by the
court in order to declare its decision. This point was included in this particular section
from of the landmark cases such as White v White and Miller v Miller (Factors
considered by the court, 2018).
 Any of the financial needs will also be considered which is required by the child in order
to fulfil his or her life.
In case Laura and Sajid, the court is required to over view their property as per section 25
where they both of two houses £5 million and £ 1.5 million respectively. Other investment
includes £2 million. Sajid has been awarded £50000 as a compensate for accident. Laura Sold
her business for £2 million and yearly she £1 million from it. Also, Sajid has a package of
£70000 per year. At the time of divorce all of this property will be evaluated and according to
that they will be awarded around 50 each so that both of them can stay happily together. In
addition, Laura might succeed the custody of Max because he was afraid of his father’s
behaviour. In this condition, Laura will also get the amount for the custody of Max which will
include all of his expenses till the age he become adult. All of this criteria will help to sort this
particular case.
Also, this condition, might not be divided equally if she would be able to add on the points
related to requirement such as any of the medical issues if she or Max suffer from because that
will increase the percentage of overall expenses and that even plays the important role in any of
the divorce case (Gamble, 2012). Here, decision which is declared by the court must be followed
and even it will be applicable from the immediate effect.
What orders she could obtain to protect her from Sajid and to enable her to get back into the
family home, and the criteria which would be considered by the court in the making of those
orders.
Since long time period, it has been found that whenever any of the case related to divorce is
being solved, there are many of the problem which occurs. It becomes mandatory to resolve all
of those cases so that similar sort of issues will not occur in future period of time. Talking about
the case, it was seen that Sajid had threatened Laura’s and her parents that she will not be
allowed to return to home in any of the circumstances if she will leave along. But, the matter has

reached till the court where laura is looking for the divorce in order to resolve the issue. Here
both of the parties will share the property equally which means Laura also has the equal right to
visit to the family home (Hope, Pearce, Whitehead and Law, 2014).
The situation which was developed by Sajid was quite difficult for Laura to go back to
family house because that can serious create problem for her in spending her rest of life. If she
would like to go back to the same family home, it will be important for her to raise question in
front of the court regarding the threatening. It is because, it will simply allow them to take some
of the important decision where they might provide her the police protection. Whenever any of
the police protection is provided for the safety then there is very minimum chances that criminal
activity can be conducted (Ginn and MacIntyre, 2013). As threatening is one of the criminal
offence, it means that legal action can be taken against the person who has performed any of the
illegal activity. According to this Sajid can be easily found guilty because of the text message
which he has forwarded to her wife and even to her parents. Also, court can declare the result
where he can warn Sajid that if Laura get affected just because of him after returning to the
family home then legal action can be taken which can create serious nature of issues for him.
The another way to resolve the issue between parties to go to the family can be done
where each of the parties can get the opportunity to spend certain time period within the family
house. It is because they have two houses and when one lives in family house then another one
can spend their life in another house and vice-versa. Also, there is the option for court, where
legal agreement between the parties can be prepared where they will have to accept the terms and
condition that they will not harm either of the parties in any of the situation (Whitcombe, 2017).
These are some of the ways through which Laura can take the permission to go bac to her family
house without facing any of the issues. In addition, court can also set the criteria in which Laura
can only visit to the limited area of the family house because of the sharing of property among
both husband and wife. If in case any of the party breaches the terms and condition, then legal
action can be taken against them respectively. This is the way through which court can resolve
the issue related to family home between Sajid and Laura.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it can be said that Family law is one of the most important law
as it allows to resolve any sort of issues which is faced by the family members. The process of
divorce is lengthy where certain guidelines are required to be followed and role of court

increases in it for solving out the matter in an effective manner. In order to take any of the
divorce, it is necessary that the petition filler must be able to prove about the main points on
which they are willing to take the divorce. Role of section 25 of MCA 1973 plays huge role at
the time of dividing the property among husband and wife. Here, child custody plays the
significant role in order to declare any of the result.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Abrams, D. E. and et. al., 2015. Contemporary family law.
Baker, K. K., 2012. Homogenous Rules for Heterogeneous Families: The Standardization of
Family Law When There Is No Standard Family. U. Ill. L. Rev., p.319.
Carbone, J. and Cahn, N., 2013. The Triple System of Family Law. Mich. St. L. Rev., p.1185.
Gamble, N., 2012. Made in the USA-Representing UK Parents Conceiving Through Surrogacy
and ART in the United States. Fam. LQ, 46, p.155.
Ginn, J. and MacIntyre, K., 2013. UK pension reforms: is gender still an issue?. Social Policy
and Society, 12(1), pp.91-103.
Golynker, O., 2015. Family-friendly reform of employment law in the UK: an overstretched
flexibility. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 37(3), pp.378-392.
Hope, S., Pearce, A., Whitehead, M. and Law, C., 2014. Family employment and child
socioemotional behaviour: longitudinal findings from the UK Millennium Cohort
Study. J Epidemiol Community Health, 68(10), pp.950-957.
Horspool, M. and Humphreys, M., 2012. European Union Law. Oxford University Press.
Jordan, A., 2016. Conceptualizing Backlash:(UK) Men's Rights Groups, Anti-Feminism, and
Postfeminism. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, 28(1), pp.18-44.
McCandless, J., 2012. The role of sexual partnership in UK family law: the case of legal
parenthood.
Whitcombe, S., 2017. Powerless to parent; powerless to protect: The experiences of alienated
parents in the UK. Maltrattamento e abuso all’infanzia.
Online
LIVINGSTONE-STALLARD V LIVINGSTONE-STALLARD, 2019. [Online]. Available
Through: <https://swarb.co.uk/livingstone-stallard-v-livingstone-stallard-fd-1974/>
Divorce and Dissolution in England & Wales. 2020. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.unlockthelaw.co.uk/divorce-and-dissolution-in-england-wales.html>
Factors considered by the court. 2018. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/lexispsl/family/synopsis/1799:1811/Financial-
provision/Factors-considered-by-the-court?wa_origin=gnb>