Varying post-nuptial settlement

Charalambous v Charalambous CA TLR 7 September

A clause in a post-nuptial settlement creating a trust that provided for the trust to be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Jersey courts could not oust or defeat a wife’s exercise of her statutory right to apply under s24 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 for a variation of settlement order after the marriage had been dissolved or annulled by decree. Individuals cannot elect into or out of a jurisdiction that determines marital status. The necessary qualification to invoke such a jurisdiction depends on habitual residence or, perhaps, domicile or nationality depending on the lex fori. Once a decree has been pronounced on the petition, all ancillary issues have to be determined in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. Unlike many civil jurisdictions that could inquire as to applicable foreign law, the English jurisdiction applied only to the lex fori.