Geraldine Morris revisits the thorny issue of conduct & financial provision
The recent decision in C v T [2009] All ER (D) 43 (Jun) has led to media attention on the impact of conduct upon financial provision but practitioners should be wary; it remains that the circumstances in which conduct will impact upon financial provision are (or should be) extreme. The statutory provision in relation to conduct has been subject to considerable judicial interpretation. The House of Lords in Miller v Miller; McFarlane v McFarlane [2006] 2 FCR 213 (in relation to Miller) made its position on conduct clear and rejected the submission that conduct should impact upon the financial provision in that case.
In Miller Nicholls LJ stated (at para 65) “Parliament has drawn the line. It is not for the courts to re-draw the line elsewhere under the guise of having regard to all the circumstances of the case” and Baroness Hale went on to say (at para 145) that conduct would not be relevant “save in the most obvious and gross cases” per the words of Ormrod J in Wachtel v Wachtel
