Financial remedies on divorce: the need for evidence-based reform

This briefing paper reports findings from a recent mixed-methods study of financial settlements on divorce, drawing on data from a court file survey of c.400 cases with a financial remedy order, interviews with 32 practitioners and focus group discussions with District Judges. The aim of this part of the project (see previous research report by Hitchings, Miles and Woodward, 2013, examining the process of settlement) has been to help fill an evidence-gap identified by the Family Justice Review (2011) regarding financial settlements law and practice. The need for empirical data in ‘everyday’ cases is particularly necessary given the magnetic pull of the ‘big money’ cases that typically fill the law reports and media reporting in this arena, which between them may generate a rather distorted image of what this area of law means for ordinary families.