s9 Principles

Scots law favours certainty to encourage pre-court settlement of financial provision on divorce and underpinning the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 is the "clean break" to encourage the readjustment to a lower standard of living or a return to independence. The courts are directed to ensure that the financial provision awarded is reasonable having regard to the resources of the parties. This discretion is limited by the principles set out in section 9 of the Act;-

(a) the net value of the matrimonial property should be shared fairly between the parties to the marriage;

(b) fair account should be taken of any economic advantage derived by either party from contributions by the other, and of any economic disadvantage suffered by either party in the interests of the other party or of the family;

(c) any economic burden of caring, after divorce, for a child of the marriage under the age of 16 years should be shared fairly between the parties;

(d) a party who has been dependent to a substantial degree on the financial support of the other party should be awarded such financial provision as is reasonable to enable him to adjust, over a period of not more than three years from the date of the decree of divorce, to the loss of that support on divorce;

(e) a party who at the time of the divorce seems likely to suffer serious financial hardship as a result of the divorce should be awarded such financial provision as is reasonable to relieve him of hardship over a reasonable period.



Reference; Family Law in Scotland Joe Thompson