Please note that this News item is not maintained, and reflects the law as at the date of publication or update.
A recent Family Court judgement had to consider the impact of personal conduct (i.e. bad behaviour during the course of a relationship) when sorting out the financial issues between separating civil partners. The Matrimonial Causes Act (to which The Civil Partnership Act refers) specifically confirms that it can take into account the conduct of each of the parties but qualifies that by indicating that it will do so if “that conduct is such that it would in the opinion of the court be inequitable to disregard it”.
The recent case confirmed the existing authorities in this area, indicating that there is a very high bar to establishing conduct as a relevant factor in financial remedy proceedings. That is not to say that the court did not suggest that domestic abuse, per se, is vile and indefensible, for it confirmed that it is. The question that the court had to address was whether it was potentially a relevant factor in dealing with financial issues on divorce, and it concluded that it should only be taken into account if it is exceptional. Furthermore, it will probably only be relevant if there is a financial consequence to that bad behaviour. The court concluded that alleged conduct (even if it is exceptional and has a financial consequence for the party experiencing it) must still be material to the outcome of the case having regard to all the other factors that a court has to balance. Finally, of course, it determined that making judgements about whether conduct has, or has not, occurred must be proportionate to the case as a whole (i.e. it may not be appropriate to waste the limited resources available on addressing what did or did not happen during the course of the marriage/civil partnership).
What is made clear is that it is not the role of the court to vindicate one party in a marriage/civil partnership, regarding the behaviour that they experienced during the relationship. Its job is to achieve a financial settlement between the parties, having regard to all the factors that it must address, but also to do so in a way that is just, expeditious, and that has regard to the cost of dealing with certain issues.
The message is clear: it is going to be a rarity for bad behaviour by one party during the course of the marriage/civil partnership to be relevant when it comes to sorting out the finances.
For more information, please contact a member of our family law team.
