Private client/family special reports

Where is the best place for a woman to get a divorce? London of course, the divorce capital of the world. ‘Forum shopping’, as it is known in family law circles, creates a myriad of problems for all parties involved in the divorce process.

Legal costs are reaching new heights as the number of marriages slides to a new low and courts are swamped with divorcees litigating over finances.

The boundaries of divorce law are being pushed to new limits, with test cases adding new layers of law to be litigated against, and costs are following suit.

The first feature of these Private Client/Family Special Reports looks at the confusing minefield that forum shopping creates and how the EU tried and failed to stamp out the practice.

The second feature examines the implications of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), which came into force in 2007. The MCA is meant to protect the mentally incapacitated from being exploited. However, it has been argued that the act has created more problems than it has solved.