Domestic Abuse and the Financial Remedy Process - A Call for Change

The process to split your finances from those of your spouse can be a long, difficult and emotionally draining process. For those who have been subjected to domestic abuse of any kind, the process can be much worse as they will have to try and negotiate an agreement with their abuser. The organisation Resolution has called for a cultural shift on how the financial remedy process deals with situations where domestic abuse is a factor, following research into this issue.

What is Resolution?

Resolution is an organisation formed of over 6,500 legal professionals who aim to reduce confrontation in family law matters, believing that doing so would produce better outcomes for separating families and in particular, for their children. Most of the solicitors in our family team are members of Resolution, some of whom are specialist accredited Resolution members. The team therefore works in accordance with the principle of minimal confrontation between parties where possible. 

What was the research?

In 2023, Resolution launched a working party to consider the relationship between domestic abuse and the division of finances on separation. It received descriptions from victims of abuse as to their experiences of the process, and commissioned a survey of legal professionals to understand the frequency and potential impact that abuse could have on the proceedings.

Three quarters of the respondents to the survey said that domestic abuse was apparent to them in more than 21% of the situations that they dealt with, and two thirds of the respondents said that specifically economic abuse was present in the same number of cases. However, 66% of the respondents said that domestic abuse was raised as an issue less than half of the time. The survey further found that 79.8% of respondents did not believe that proceedings were sufficiently taking into account the long-term effect of abuse.

There was further concern as to the availability of funding to those who were victims of abuse, with 90% stating that there was insufficient access to legal aid for those who had been subjected to abuse. There is also concerns as to the availability of Legal Services Payment Orders (LSPOs) to those who were victims of abuse. You can read more about this here.

The actual procedures themselves were also highlighted as cause for concern too. 42% of respondents stated that in 21% - 60% of their cases, non-disclosure of assets was a concern. There is further concern that Non-Court Dispute Resolution (NCDR) may be leveraged by an abusive party to coerce a victim into agreeing a non-favourable settlement.

What do Resolution recommend?

Resolution advocate for a cultural shift in the procedures used by the court and family law practitioners. It advocates that the court should be more alive to the issue and impact of domestic abuse and take a more hands on approach by utilising costs orders to be made against a party who is refusing to engage in the financial remedy process, including for when non-disclosure in parallel NCDR methods. It asks that the Court consider making LSPOs where one party has surplus funds, especially where those funds have been accumulated through the marriage. Legal aid was also deemed to be in need of reform to make it easier for victims to access funding, which is proposed through altering how capital should be assessed for the purposes of the means assessment.

How can we help?

The family team at Johnson Astills deals with both financial remedy matters as well a domestic abuse matters, so we are intimately aware of the impacts one can have on the other. If you find yourself needing assistance to obtain protection against an abusive partner, if you need help with financial remedy matters, or both, we are able to assist you.

Please contact the Family Team at Johnson Astills today to discuss your matter further. You can call us at our office in Leicester on 0116 255 4855 or our office in Loughborough on 01509 610 312 and ask to speak to a member of the Family Team. Alternatively, you may prefer to email us at legal@johnsonastills.com or fill in our enquiry form.