Once upon a time a husband or wife could go through the other’s documentation and download it from their computer, taking any copies they thought would be useful for their case in divorce proceedings.
A major change was the case of Imerman v Imerman which made it clear this could not be done and the wife’s lawyers were ordered to deliver the files of documents to the husband’s lawyers without retaining copies.
If a client brings to a solicitor documents that belong to their spouse the immediate question is whether those documents have been freely and knowingly provided to the client by the person to whom they belong. If not, they cannot be read and must be returned to the owner or the owner’s lawyer.
Head of family law Marilyn Bell, and Head of Employment, Chris Cook discuss how the legislation has altered divorce proceedings.
