Emma Hatley spoke to The Telegraph about the issues raised in the BBC1 drama about divorce, The Split, including how the courts are adapting to changes in society and the challenges this presents.

Emma, a partner in the Divorce and Family department, says in the article, ‘Divorce 2018: why lifelong support is a thing of the past’:

“The presumption of lifetime maintenance for one partner – usually the wife, for example, is changing. Courts are much keener on terminating dependency by getting a clean break. But this is easier where there is a large pot of matrimonial assets. Most couples won’t have the capital between them to achieve that.”

Ongoing maintenance is not the only issue facing divorcing couples in 2018. Emma also explains the issue of special contribution:

“The idea that someone has made a special contribution to the size of the marital pot is coming under scrutiny. It’s no longer good enough to be well rewarded for being great at your job, a judge would expect to see a spark of genius too.”

Emma gives the example of Nick Robertson, the owner of the online shopping business ASOS. He unsuccessfully tried to claim special contribution when divorcing his wife. “The judge pointed out that Robertson had not invented shopping or the internet,” comments Emma.

Finally, Emma says of the recent campaign for no-fault divorce:

“There is a universal call for no-fault divorce. The current system is archaic and causes acrimony, but it is hard to know what to replace it with, if you want to eliminate fault, so it is not a knee jerk reaction.”

To read the full article in The Telegraph, please visit – Divorce 2018: why lifelong support is a thing of the past (subscription required).

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Media contact: Lydia Buckingham, Senior Marketing Executive, +44 (0) 20 7822 8134, lbuckingham@stewartslaw.com