Over 200 people attended Corbett Le Quesne’s Family Law Conference regarding international divorce.
Almost 80 people stayed in Jersey for the Saturday events which included a Seafaris outing and lunch at Corbiere Phare.
Mr Justice Cobb was the keynote speaker and addressed the delegates on divorce jurisdiction. Chloe from fertility charity Tiny Seeds and Keeley Lengthorne, founder of charity George’s Law attended the event and spoke to BBC Radio Jersey regarding their current campaigns. Corbett Le Quesne also held a raffle for Tiny Seeds which raised over £2,200 for the charity.
A Women in Family Law (WiFL) event in the morning was also very popular. Registrar McFadzean was the moderator and Elizabeth Shaw from Affinity Private Wealth, Phoebe Chamier from Brooks Macdonald, Kevin Speake from Quiltor Cheviot and Richard Tribe from Nedbank took part in a panel discussion regarding the transfer of wealth and the importance of education and generational change in relation to the topics death, divorce, inheritance, entrepreneurs and incapacity.
Events like this show that Jersey is a hugely popular place to host conferences.
Anna Styles, Senior Associate and Head of Marketing said: “The feedback we received from this event was absolutely fantastic. The record breaking late summer weather was appreciated by everyone. Many delegates went for a swim in the morning and enjoyed the champagne reception on the terrace at the L’Horizon Hotel. I must thank the excellent staff at the L’Horizon and Delta Events as they always ensure everything runs smoothly.
Senior Partner Barbara Corbett commented: “We chose the topic of divorce because we are desperate for the Government of Jersey to put into place recommendations that were made by the Jersey Law Commission in 2015, moving to Jersey becoming a no fault divorce jurisdiction. We could have done this before England and Wales if the political will had been there. The current system encourages acrimony at the expense, in many cases of the children. England and Wales introduced no fault divorce last year. Sometimes there is an option for people to get divorced in one or more country and this difference in the law between Jersey and England could cause all sorts of issues for families meaning upheavals and expensive battles over jurisdiction.”
Jersey Ecrivain Jamie-Lee Morgan said: “I have been a passionate advocate of a new system which does not encourage people to blame the other for the breakdown of their relationship. We frequently have to explain to people that unfortunately until the system changes they need to say the behaviour of the spouse has been so unreasonable that they cannot be expected to live with them anymore. Even where both parties agree that the marriage is at an end, it is hurtful to have bad behaviour cited against you when in reality relationship breakdown is much more nuanced than that. We really hope that this issue will be next on the legal reform agenda. Most of the work has been done and it will help so many people.”
