Q1: How can social media usage during a divorce affect the outcome of financial or child arrangement proceedings? #familylawhour

I have time off for good behaviour - so skedaddling up to @ResFamilyLaw Future Practice Conference in Leeds - ask me about @Novalawuk and free trials of Nova Engage, 10 years of tech enabled NCDR and counting #FPConf24

Q1: Has the prevalence of child mental ill-health been increasing in your cases? If so, how significantly? #familylawhour

@Raj_Patel_FLP @CMaulkin @FamilyLawHour I think clients want certainty first and foremost whichever 'formula' camp you are in

Q4: Should cases which deal with child maintenance top-up that fall under the Adjusted Formula Methodology category be dealt with by the CMS rather than the court? #familylawhour

May I suggest a round of applause to Dom Christophers for his spreadsheet @FamilyLawHour (and a reminder of the importance of firm’s retaining the IP in what a team member produces).

@FamilyLawHour Formulas will always have their benefits and unfairnesses. For families close to the threshold but below it or conversely just above it, I can see it may create odd outcomes but for the majority it is sensible.

@FamilyLawHour Perhaps that’s an issue which should be open to argue.

@Raj_Patel_FLP @FamilyLawHour @OnionBarge1 Yes, as one of the changes. Another is assessing the shared care no liability outcome. How can that be fair when one earns £25k and the other £125k?!

Q3: Should school fees be taken into account in the Adjusted Formula Methodology when the statutory formula used by the Child Maintenance Service does not? Is this not an inconsistent approach? #familylawhour

@Raj_Patel_FLP @FamilyLawHour I'd have thought this would be helpful as it would offer guidance to try to limit disputes without binding the court.

@OnionBarge1 @FamilyLawHour Do you think the threshold of £156k should be raised keeping more parties in the CMS statutory formula rather than top-up territory? It has been over 10 years since it first got implemented.

Q2: Mostyn J in James v Seymour has said that the Adjusted Formula Methodology (AFM) should be a ‘loose starting point’. Has it been most people’s experiences that parties & the court have adopted the figure calculated from the AFM rather than departing from this? #familylawhour

@FamilyLawHour Have people found it easy to grasp to the formula set out in James v Seymour. Bear in mind just to work out the exigible income alone the formula is E = (G x (1-Z)) – P – (S ÷ 0.55)

Q1: Should child maintenance top-up be based on a formulaic approach, a discretionary approach or combination of both? #familylawhour

Q1: Should claims for unmarried couples have their own procedure governing those claims rather than the CPR (in the same way that family claims have the FPR)? #FamilyLawHour

Excited to be attending the Resolution Family Practice Conference @ResFamilyLaw #FPconf23

Q4: What are the benefits of therapeutic and financial neutrals being involved and working as a team with lawyers from the outset of a collaborative case? #familylawhour

Q3: Do you think clients understand out of court settlement options (including collaborative practice) and how do they choose which is right for them? #familylawhour

Q2: What do you see as barriers to working collaboratively and how can they be overcome? #familylawhour