About
Matt’s practice has a focus on complicated and high value financial cases arising on divorce and separation, to include financial claims following an overseas divorce and financial claims for the minor children of unmarried parents. He regularly works on cases with high value and complex asset bases, often with an international dimension. Matt has a particular interest in, and experience of, cases involving privately owned and/or family businesses. He has acted in cases involving businesses at all stages of their lifecycle, including start-ups, established trading businesses, takeovers and mergers, sales (and part sales), as well as dealing with post-sale considerations.
Matt also advises on a wide range of matters relating to children such as general living arrangements, relocation (international and within the UK), overseas travel, choice of school and change of surname. Matt has acted in a number of cases involving serious safeguarding risks such as allegations of domestic abuse (to include coercive control), drug/alcohol abuse and parental alienation, including cases with social services involvement.
Matt works with clients, together with other members of the team, to resolve matters by agreement, including via alternative dispute resolution methods such as mediation, early neutral evaluation and arbitration. However, he litigates where required and has significant experience of complex and high value trial litigation, including in the High Court.
Matt also advises on family law matters in the context of wealth protection and succession planning, often alongside colleagues from the firm’s private client team. This includes advising on and drafting financial agreements (such as nuptial agreements and cohabitation agreements), advising trustees on family law claims and advising on the appointment of guardians for separated parents.
Matt is admitted to practise in England and Wales. He is a member of Resolution and sits on the Next Generation Consulting Editorial Board for LexisNexis in respect of family law.
Experience
Financial matters
- Acting for the husband in a complex and heavily litigated jurisdictional dispute, including the reported decision of R v R [2021] EWHC 195 Fam (relating to issues of interim maintenance and legal costs funding).
- Acting for the CEO husband in TRNS v TRNK [2023] EWFC 133 and TRNS v TRNK [2024] EWFC 240 Fam, a case concerning the enforcement of a post-nuptial agreement involving allegations of non-disclosure relating to a number of valuable and highly complex business assets.
- Acting for the founder wife in the case of FT v JT [2023] EWFC 250, a novel case involving a start-up business, successfully limiting the husband’s claim in the business to a decreasing share, starting at just 17.5%.
- Acting for the co-founder husband in the case of XP v YP [2024] EWFC 319, in respect of a historical financial agreement from many years ago and its applicability to the recent sale of his very valuable business interests nearly two decades later.
- Acting for an unmarried mother living overseas in respect of a high value financial claim for her child against the wealthy UK based father in a case involving a number of offshore family trusts.
Children matters
- Acting for the father in AA v BB [2021] EWFC 17, an international case involving a complex jurisdictional point relating to the parties’ children, which was subsequently appealed successfully by the father in the Court of Appeal (in Re X (Children) (Article 61 BIIa) [2021] EWCA Civ 1305).
- Acting for a mother in long running children proceedings involving very serious allegations of abuse made by both parents, including sexual abuse and parental alienation, which also involved the Local Authority and a children’s Guardian (appointed to represent the child). The final order provided that the child should live with the mother and have no direct contact with the father.
- Acting for a mother in wide-ranging proceedings relating to her child including child arrangements, overseas travel, choice of school and change of surname.