IHTM28092 - Liabilities: investigating liabilities: claims for relief for divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act or dissolution of a civil partnership under the Civil Partnership Act 2004

This instruction applies to estates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland only.

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp position with regard to claims for financial relief under the Matrimonial Causes Act was stated by Denning LJ in Sugden v Sugden [1957] P 120 at page 135, ‘In [the Divorce Court] there is no right to maintenance or to costs, or to a secured provision, or the like, until the Court makes an order directing it. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýappre is, therefore, no cause of action for such matters until an order is made.â€�

In Whytte v Ticehurst [1986] 2 WLR 700 Booth J reviewed the case law and developments in matrimonial legislation and concluded at page 705, ‘In my judgement it follows that the principles stated by Denning LJ in Sugden v Sugden [1957] P 120 continue to apply and that it must still be the case that no enforcement right exists until an order is actually made.�

This means that you can only allow a deduction if

  • an order was made, or
  • an enforceable agreement was entered into before the deceased died.

You should adopt the same approach when dealing with deductions relating to financial relief under Sch 5 (in England and Wales) or Sch 15 (in Northern Ireland) of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (IHTM11032)

You should refer a case that seems likely to be contentious to Technical.