Divorcing couples often assume it would automatically be “fair” for their assets (such as their house, pensions, savings etc) to be split equally between them.  However, this is not necessarily the way the family courts see it, a point which was reiterated in the recent case of B v B which came before the Court of Appeal in March 2008.

Few people can have escaped the recent press coverage of this dramatic court case.  For much of that litigation and, importantly, for the final hearing Heather Mills acted in person (i.e. she did not have a solicitor or a barrister representing her). 

Although inevitably the McCartney v Mills case has generated almost unprecedented media interest, there is in fact nothing particularly surprising about it in legal terms.

Last summer it seemed that there was every chance of cohabiting couples gaining similar rights to married couples under landmark proposals from the Law Commission.  However, it now seems this movement has stalled.

The McCartney/Mills decision is eagerly awaited. Mr Justice Bennett is due to hand down his judgment on 17 March and will decide whether to make it public in whole, in part, or not at all. 

The family courts always strive to achieve a clean break when dividing up marital assets following a divorce. However, it is not always possible to do so. Often a wife will receive a share of the capital to provide towards housing and capital needs, together with a share of the husband's income into the future to meet her income needs.

Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills are in the midst of the latest and most sensational "big money" divorce case currently in private hearing in the Family Division of the High Court.

Did you know that the English courts do not have the right to deal with a person’s matrimonial affairs merely because that person is a British citizen or is present in this country?

For most people in England contemplating divorce, proceedings will clearly be issued here. However, where only one of the couple has been living in England for the past year, it may be possible to look elsewhere.

In the recent High Court decision of K v R (2007) the High Court upheld the validity of a Talaq divorce pronounced by the husband in Pakistan, despite the wife knowing nothing about it. 

The tragic death of Shafilea Ahmed has recently been reported in the press, and with it questions of the continuing practice of forced marriages have been raised.

If you read Rosemary Bennett and Alan Hamilton’s article in The Times on 7 January 2008 you would have an unfairly negative view of family lawyers. 

It is a sad fact that the level of domestic violence in England and Wales tends to rise over the festive period.

Are you approaching your first Christmas after a separation from your spouse? You are probably doing so with some trepidation.

In divorce proceedings between two millionaires, the Court of Appeal has given the green light towards upholding a prenup.

The Court of Appeal decision in Haines v Hill has been handed down.

New research from Michigan State University has shown that divorce is not only bad for you on a personal level but on a global one as well!

Since Cyd Negus, the cohabiting partner of a wealthy deceased tycoon, was awarded a significant slice of his estate by the High Court a couple of weeks ago, there has been much in the news about claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

Mills & Reeve, the firm behind Divorce.co.uk, is pleased to announce that the matrimonial teams of Addleshaw Goddard in Leeds and Manchester are joining the family. When the 11 lawyers join Mills & Reeve in just over two months’ time, on 1 February, Mills & Reeve will have 39 lawyers in the family team making it by far the biggest in the country.

The Human Tissues and Embryos Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, states that lesbian couples can be registered as a child’s parents if one gives birth following fertility treatment.

It seems that not a day has passed recently without some sort of speculation on the divorce of Paul McCartney and Heather Mills.

The issue of confidentiality on divorce has come to the fore once more in the scrappy separation of Mills and McCartney.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published an analysis of six years of government data on families.

What do Brad and Angelina share in common with Tony and Cherie, and Jordan and Peter? Yes, you've guessed it, these couples all met while at work.

Anne Robinson, the acerbic host of BBC’s The weakest link, has made a statement revealing that she is to divorce her husband of 27 years.

A Cumbria court has handed down a suspended jail sentence to 42-year-old Kevin Quinn after he attempted to get married for a third time and the registrar became suspicious.

Jane Felix-Browne, the British grandmother who had a holiday romance with Omar Bin Laden (aged 27) leading to a whirlwind marriage seven months later, has announced that they are to divorce in order to counter death threats made against them.

The most recent statistics for the number of divorces in England and Wales show that there were fewer divorces in 2005 than in 2004 and that marriages are, on average, lasting slightly longer before divorce occurs.

A committee of MEPs has started looking closely at proposals from the EU Commission to clarify European divorce laws in relation to couples from different member states.

Mills & Reeve Birmingham partners Marc Saunderson and Matthew Hansell spoke at the conference of the M5 group in Oxford on Friday, 5 October on the subject of asset protection and trusts in divorce.