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Ground-breaking report considers the interplay between domestic abuse and financial remedy proceedings

October 31, 2024

Resolution, the association of family justice professionals, has published a ground-breaking report looking at the relationship between domestic abuse and the division of finances on separation and/or divorce/civil partnership dissolution.

The report follows a survey to understand the reported incidence of domestic abuse, and to consider what impact any abuse has on the outcome. The survey was open to all family law professionals, and received 526 full responses.

The responses indicated that 80% of family justice professionals believe domestic abuse, and specifically economic abuse, is not sufficiently taken into account in financial remedy proceedings on divorce/dissolution, and 85% said it is not sufficiently taken into account in proceedings between unmarried parents concerning financial provision for their children.

Specific concerns included abusers failing to provide full disclosure of their means and failing to comply with final court orders, so as to frustrate the financial claims being made against them.

When a court considers a financial remedies claim on divorce it is required to take into account the conduct of the parties, if that conduct is such that it would in the opinion of the court be inequitable to disregard it. This can mean that bad conduct by one party can result in the other party receiving a larger award. However, this will only happen in exception cases.

Resolution’s view is that the current approach of the courts to conduct leads to unfair outcomes for some victim-survivors of domestic abuse. The report does not set out to achieve a final recommendation about how to resolve that issue, but Resolution says it will continue to consider this matter.

In any event, Resolution calls for a cultural shift from all family justice professionals to better meet the needs of victim-survivors of domestic abuse seeking the resolution of finances on divorce. To this end, resolution makes a number of recommendations, including changing the court rules to ensure that parties are safeguarded from ongoing domestic abuse, ensuring that victims receive appropriate financial support, for example via interim maintenance orders, and deciding the consequences of any non-compliance with a financial remedy order at the time of the making of the order, especially if enforcement proceedings seem likely.

Resolution says that it hopes that the report will form the building blocks for ongoing and future policy development in this important area.

You can read the full report here.

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