Pre-Order | Dictionary of Financial Remedies (2021)

The Dictionary of Financial Remedies is a unique reference guide to the key concepts, cases and practice of financial remedies.

An ideal quick reference for when you are in court, conference or mediation and written in a style that will appeal to family lawyers, mediators and other non-lawyers involved in financial remedy proceedings.

Presented in an easy to use A-Z format, with cross-references where required, each entry acts like a practice note on the topic setting out the essential law, key cases and practice points you need to be able to advise on the issue with the minimum of fuss. The book distils the combined experience of the Editors whose aim is to provide a concise, practical handbook that focuses on the most important issues and practice points, covering everything from agreements to variation of settlements.

Sister publication, Dictionary of Private Children Law, is available here.

This 2021 edition is fully updated to include changes and developments in the law from the last twelve months, including those that have occurred as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

New entries include: Privilege; Release from Undertakings; Executory Orders; Setting Aside and Remote Hearings.

Notable cases include W v H and its impact on Pensions on Divorce.

I am delighted once again to be invited to write the foreword to this splendid work. It is extraordinary how much information has been crammed into such a slim volume. I have commented before that it is a very well judged mixture of substantive law and procedure. I particularly commend the section on jurisdiction written in the light of the expiration of the transitional period on 31 December 2020 and the final departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union. This is one of the best short synopses of the jurisdictional rules that you are likely to encounter. The section on spousal maintenance (quantum) is another excellent synopsis of a huge subject. The authors are to be congratulated on having given outstanding expression to the apothegm “less is more”.

Last year I conducted a Boolean search to see how many times I was mentioned and I recorded that I was just short of a century with 97 citations. This year I am gratified to record 111 mentions. The next highest score was 25 (Sir James Munby). This is slightly embarrassing and suggests a degree of juridical incontinency on the part of your interlocutor. I conducted the same modified additional Boolean search as last year namely Mostyn AND (criticised OR overturned OR reversed OR set-aside OR disapproved) with a proximity filter of “on the same page”. To my relief, and surprise, this only returned one decision of mine which had been criticised (and then only by legal commentators (see Child Support FN 8)), and one where I was disapproved (see Agreements FN 32) .

I remain convinced that this work is an essential component in every practitioner’s library. I repeat that it is a worthy companion to At A Glance and Financial Remedies Practice each of which has a different focus. Like At A Glance it has the intrinsic merit of portability. Its publication follows hard on the heels of the President’s announcement of 24 February 2021 whereby he formally recognised the Financial Remedies Courts as a permanent, established structure within the Family Court. The specialist judges of the FRC are likely to have this volume at their fingertips. Woe betide the practitioner without a copy who is wrongfooted when a key passage from it is cited by the court!

Hon Mr Justice Mostyn

February 2021

• Every family law solicitor, barrister or legal executive advising clients on financial provision after separation
• Mediators and other professionals involved in out of court dispute resolution
• Expert witnesses, financial planners and pensions advisers working on financial remedy cases
• McKenzie Friends & litigants in person

Dictionary of Financial Remedies is available as a fully searchable and annotatable e-book, to be accessed online or offline on any device.

You can read more about our e-reader here.