Details of financial settlements in divorce cases will no longer be published following the decision in A v A [2012]. In recent years the press has enjoyed the ability to wax lyrical about the spats and rows between divorcing celebrities, demands to support lavish lifestyles etc.... Colin Montgomerie, Tiger Woods, Paul McCartney, Nick Faldo, Ronnie Wood, Bernie Ecclestone and more have seen details of their divorce settlements bandied about the tabloids. In a twist some years ago, leading North West businessman and a Manleys client, Gary Dean, took to the web - launching www.deandivorce.com to "out" the truth about his financial divorce settlement to scotch scurrilous gossip about what had and had not been paid. The national press had a field day with it. Now that wouldn't be possible. The Court in A v A [2012] ruled that though the fair and accurate reporting of divorce proceedings in general is in the public interest, financial settlements between a couple (often made at Financial Dispute Resolution hearings [FDR's] should not be published and should remain private and confidential.
What with what appears to be looming post-Leverson on press regulation, and now banning the sordid details of divorce settlements, the scandal which sells British tabloids might be on the wane.