Partner Mark Harper yesterday spoke at the University of Milan’s Advanced Course in Family Law, delivering a session on Anglo-Italian international divorces and the increasingly complex jurisdictional and financial issues arising in cross-border family disputes. The session formed part of the university’s 2025-2026 specialist family law programme.

Mark’s presentation examined the practical and strategic considerations arising in Anglo-Italian divorce cases, including jurisdiction disputes, competing proceedings, forum conveniens arguments, financial remedies in England and Wales, and the treatment of pre-nuptial agreements and Italian matrimonial property regimes.

The session also explored a number of significant recent decisions in international family law, including Ferrara v Ferrara, a recent Court of Appeal decision concerning domicile, competing English and Italian proceedings, and the differing financial consequences available in each jurisdiction.

In Ferrara, the husband, an Italian national, and the wife, an Australian national, had lived in London for many years before relocating to Italy in 2019. The wife later issued divorce and financial remedy proceedings in England, relying on an English domicile of choice, while the husband commenced proceedings in Italy. The High Court found that the wife remained domiciled in England and Wales and refused the husband’s application to stay the English proceedings. The Court of Appeal subsequently dismissed the husband’s appeal.

The case has attracted considerable attention within the international family law community because of the court’s analysis of forum disputes following Brexit and the practical significance of the differing financial remedies available in England and Italy. As highlighted during Mark’s presentation, the Court of Appeal confirmed that in cases of this nature the real issue is often not simply where the divorce proceeds, but where the financial consequences of the divorce should be determined.

Mark also discussed the implications of Italian separation of property agreements in English proceedings, referencing authorities including XW v XH, Versteegh v Versteegh and BI v EN, together with the English courts’ developing approach to marital agreements and non-matrimonial property.

Mark Harper advises high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals on complex domestic and international family law matters, with particular expertise in cross-border divorce, trusts, jurisdiction disputes and international financial proceedings. He is co-author of International Trust and Divorce Litigation and is consistently top ranked in the leading legal directories for family law and international matrimonial finance matters.