All Things Family Law

Given the increase in the population of the Asian community over recent years, it is perhaps no surprise that the English courts have seen a massive rise in cases concerning dowry issues and, in particular, jewellery exchanged on marriage. The whereabouts of jewellery, its origins, its value and whether it has been unlawfully retained by one spouse are just some of the issues the court will need to tackle at an early stage.

Firstly, dealing with a bit of house keeping, for those of you who follow my blog, I am sorry that there has been some delay since my last posting. I am pleased to announce that my partner gave birth to a baby and as a result I have been side tracked by sleep deprivation! Turning now to this week’s blog. Being increasingly instructed by professional footballers and their partners, I wanted to spice up my blog up with a discussion about the unique considerations in cases concerning footballers and in particular the approach of the courts to maintenance awards. The Case Cases involving footballer are rarely reported. It is fair to say, however, that very few people will not have heard about the case involving Ray Parlour (Parlour v Parlour [2004] All ER (D) 105 (Jul)). There is a common misconception amongst the lay public that all aspects of the Parlour case were litigated to the bitter end and a draconian award was imposed on Mr Parlour. That, in fact, was not the case. The...