Consent, Fraud and Family Law

Abstract

In two recent cases the Supreme Court unanimously clarified that one party's fraudulent non-disclosure of material facts 'unravels' any agreement made in their absence. Because the parties' agreement is a sine qua non of a consent order, the order may be set aside, despite the desirability in family law of clean break and certainty. Victims of fraud in matrimonial proceedings should not be left in a worse position than victims in other civil proceedings. However, while consistency across different areas of civil law was important here, are there any circumstances in which inconsistency may be justified?

Key words:

• Ancillary relief
• matrimonial finances
• fraud