Little v Little. 1990 SLT 785

Citation: Little v Little. 1990 SLT 785

Link to case on WorldLII (reference).

Rule of thumb: How are divorce settlements decided? At common law the Judge has a lot of discretion to decide this.

Judgment:

The Court confirmed that they have a lot of discretion to decide whether the 50/50 standard settlement in divorce cases should be departed from, ‘But despite all the detail much is still left to the discretion of the court. This is clear from an examination of section 8(2), which provides that the court shall make such order, if any, as is justified by the principles set out in section 9 and reasonable having regard to the resources of the parties. The concept of sharing the net value of the matrimonial property fairly, the flexibility which is given by the expression 'special circumstances' in section 10(6) and the repeated references in section 11 to all the other circumstances of the case serve to emphasise that, despite the detail, the matter is essentially one of discretion, aimed at achieving a fair and practicable result in accordance with common sense. It remains as important as it always has been that the details should be left in the hands of the court of first instance and not opened up for reconsideration on appeal’, Lord President (Hope) at 787

Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.