The Benefits Of Arbitration In Family Law

The Institute of Family Law Arbitration (IFLA) launched the Financial Arbitration Scheme in April 2012. This enables couples (whether married or unmarried) to have financial disputes which they are unable to resolve by agreement (whether, for example, through mediation or negotiation) determined by a certified arbitrator outside of contested court proceedings.

Since the introduction of the scheme, more than 220 arbitrators have been trained and over 80 financial arbitrations have been concluded. Undoubtedly the success of the scheme has been helped by the ringing endorsements given by the Judiciary. In S v S [2014] EWHC 7 (Fam) the President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, made it clear that in the absence of any compelling countervailing factors, arbitral awards would be capable of being...