In March 2023, the Law Commission announced an inquiry into guidelines on financial provision on divorce, ahead of a review of the 50-year-old regulations.

The proposed reforms have invited praise from the legal community, although one of the main dangers raised is that stricter rules may lead to unfair outcomes.

Partner Mark Harper suggested one such scenario. “Imagine if there is a rule that someone is entitled to half of the marital assets. What if one party has a landed estate but doesn’t make any significant money during the marriage?”

He further added that “there may not be any marital assets as such, so the other party ends up with half of nothing.”

Read Mark’s comments in Spear’s Magazine, here.