Chapter 5 The consequences of Marriage and Civil Partnership Flashcards
Marriage encompasses companionship, love, affection, comfort, mutual services and sexual intercourse and has been described as “a bundle of rights, some hardly capable of precise definition”.
Best v Samuel Fox & Co (1952)
The wife accepted property worth £100k and agreed not to apply to the court for financial relief in matrimonial proceedings. When she later applied to the court for divorce, the restriction was held to be void but the COA refused to make a lump sum order. The wife had accepted the original settlement after receiving professional advice which she had chosen to disregard. In view of this, the court did not consider it appropriate to vary the provision already made for the wife under the agreement.
Edgar v Edgar (1980)
The parties agreed that the wife would leave the matrimonial home and the husband would then pay her an agreed level of maintenance. After the wife had left the home, the husband gave up work voluntarily to attend a 2 year teacher training course and told the wife he could not make any more maintenance payments. He applied to vary the maintenance agreement but the COA said that a change of circumstances alone was not enough to justify a variation; the change must have made the agreement unjust. Although the circumstances had changed, it would be unjust to allow the husband to escape his obligations through his unilateral action.
Ratcliffe v Ratcliffe (1964)
