Separation agreement meaning

This Checklist This Checklist outlines the actions required when shaping and composing a marital or civil partnership agreement. It also covers formalities, including execution as a deed, duties affecting third parties, and the court’s jurisdiction. It further addresses financial disclosure, property that is non-matrimonial or outside the civil partnership, fairness, undue influence, and the need for independent legal advice for marital agreements, and can serve as an aide-memoire when drafting a marital or civil partnership agreement. It is suitable for use with pre-nuptial, post-nuptial, and separation agreements...

In this issue: Practice and procedure Emergency procedures Public children Private children Financial provision International children Daily and weekly news alerts Updated content Useful information Practice and procedure Family Procedure Rules 2010 Practice Direction Update No 2 of 2025 The second Practice Direction Update to the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) in 2025 has now been published. It revises FPR 2010, PD 36ZA and introduces a further Practice Direction, FPR 2010, PD 36ZI, which will take effect on 14 July 2025. The new Practice Direction, FPR 2010, PD 36ZI, augments FPR 2010, SI 2010/2955, r 36.2 (Transitional Arrangements and Pilot Schemes) to support a pilot for notifying the police whenever the court makes, varies, or extends a relevant non-molestation order. Under the pilot, notification to the police will be delivered by automated electronic means or by email once a relevant non-molestation order has been made. Consequential amendments to FPR 2010, PD 36ZA remove,...

In this issue: Disputes and remedies Repairing obligations and dilapidations Contractual issues Service charges Property disputes in Scotland LexTalk®Property Disputes: a Lexis®Nexis community Additional Property disputes updates Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q&As Disputes and remedies Express declaration of trust superseded by subsequent common intention constructive trust (Nilsson v Cynberg) Nilsson v Cynberg [2024] EWHC 2164 (Ch) concerned an appeal brought by trustees in bankruptcy against a ruling that the bankrupt had no beneficial interest in the former family home. The property had been subject to an express declaration of trust naming the couple as joint tenants. At first instance, the court found that this position later changed by way of a common intention constructive trust and/or proprietary estoppel arising at a later point in time, and in particular because of the separation of the bankrupt and his wife and their...

In this issue: COP29 Air emissions and climate change Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental disputes and proceedings ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste International Waste Shipments (Amendment) Regulations 2024 Waste producer responsibility regimes Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Updated Practice Notes Trackers COP29—the outcomes The 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 24 November 2024, finally closing 35 hours late after intensive negotiations. With the need to confront climate change increasingly acute, COP29 sought to deepen global collaboration and frame bold measures for mitigation and adaptation. The meeting delivered the Baku Climate Unity Pact, bringing together a suite of decisions from the relevant governing bodies. Notably, parties agreed a new collective quantified goal on climate finance (NCQG), under...

The properties held by a company can be obtained by two routes: an acquisition of assets owned by the company (an asset purchase), or an acquisition of the company’s shares (a share purchase) Asset purchase On an asset purchase: the buyer takes the undertaking as a going concern and may select which elements of the business, together with any assets and liabilities, it wishes to take on every property owned, used or occupied by the undertaking must be conveyed, assigned or transferred to the purchaser within the sale documents Properties may be sold outright, or the buyer may be granted a fresh lease. Where a leasehold interest is involved (whether already existing or newly created), particular issues arise. For more information, see Practice Note: Leasehold property issues arising on an asset purchase. The properties will be identified in the sale agreement and it is the property interests themselves that are transferred, rather than the company’s...

Practice Note This Practice Note outlines the formal and practical considerations relevant to taking instructions, preparing, and advising on a marital or civil partnership agreement, along with the overarching principles. It encompasses pre-nuptial (pre-marital), post-nuptial, separation and maintenance agreements. It also addresses vitiating factors, reviews, variation, and inheritance issues. Following the Supreme Court ruling in Radmacher (formerly Granatino) v Granatino, such an agreement may prove 'decisive' so long as it is 'fair'. The method of drafting and the observance of formal requirements surrounding a marital or civil partnership agreement can be pivotal when assessing if, and to what degree, the agreement will be enforced. No party should sign an agreement without the intention to be bound by its terms. Each party ought to be given the chance to obtain independent legal advice on the agreement’s provisions, see Practice Note: Marital and civil partnership agreements—independent legal advice. Financial disclosure should likewise be exchanged, see Practice Note: Marital and civil partnership agreements—disclosure. See also Practice Notes: Implications of pre-nuptial agreements within...

This Practice Note explores the position of depositaries under the UK framework that transposes the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (Directive 2011/61/EU) (AIFMD). It examines the depositary obligations within the UK AIFM regime, setting out which UK entities can serve as a depositary, the scope of their functions (including oversight), and the rules on delegation, liability, and the depositary agreement. For details on the parallel EU regime, see Practice Note: EU AIFMD—depositaries. UK implementation of AIFMD depositary requirements The AIFMD has been given effect in the UK through a blend of primary legislation in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000), secondary legislation—principally the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Regulations 2013, SI 2013/1773 (AIFM UK Regulations)—and rules made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) across its Handbook, chiefly in the Investment Funds sourcebook (FUND). Within the FCA Handbook, AIF depositary provisions sit mainly in FUND 3.11 (in accordance with the table in FUND 3.11.2 R and FUND 3.11.3 R). These rules are supplemented by Articles 83 to...

Date provision Substitute the date clause in the share purchase agreement (SPA) with the following updated wording to read: This Agreement is delivered on [ insert day and month ] 20[ insert year ] Recitals Recital (B) Remove ‘legal and beneficial’ from Recital (B) entirely. Definitions Revise the following existing definitions set out in clause 1 (Definitions and interpretation) of the relevant precedent SPA (where used in the SPA): Definition of ‘Business’ Replace ‘the City of London’ with ‘[ Edinburgh OR Glasgow OR Aberdeen ]’ instead. Definition of ‘CRTP’ Replace the definition of ‘CRTP’ with the following new definition: CTPRS means Contract (Third Party Rights) (Scotland) Act 2017; Definition of ‘Encumbrance’ Delete ‘assignment’ immediately preceding ‘right of first refusal’, as Scots law uses assignation rather than assignment. Delete ‘legal or equitable’ immediately preceding ‘third party right’, as Scots law does not recognise this separation of ownership...

This document offers only general guidance about separation agreements. Your family lawyer will be able to give specific advice tailored to your circumstances and needs. What is a separation agreement? Spouses or civil partners may make a clear written agreement setting out in detail precisely what they wish to happen to their finances, property and other practical arrangements as a result of a current or planned separation. This document is known as a separation agreement. Such agreements are commonly used by couples who are living apart but do not wish to divorce or dissolve their civil partnership at that particular time, perhaps for religious or practical reasons. The legal position draws on the usual law applying to divorce and dissolution of civil partnership, and on the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Radmacher v Granatino, which stated in effect that a nuptial agreement, freely entered into by both parties with a full understanding of its consequences, should generally be given effect unless, in the circumstances prevailing, it...

This guide provides general information on post-nuptial agreements. Your family lawyer can offer specific advice that reflects your personal circumstances and needs. What is a post-nuptial agreement? A couple who are already married or in a civil partnership might choose to make an agreement setting out what they want to happen to their money and property if their marriage or civil partnership were to end at a later date. They may do this because they did not enter a pre-nuptial agreement before marrying, or after a separation followed by getting back together. A couple who are separating can also make an agreement about financial issues if they do not yet wish to divorce or dissolve their civil partnership; this type of post-nuptial agreement is known as a separation agreement, and similar rules apply...