Hi

Two of the Edgar Principles are

1. Parties Conduct before making the agreement and consequent upon it.

2. Whether one party put the other under undue pressure.

Can any kindly legally trained folk give me an example of the above eg what sort of conduct or what type of pressure/behaviour are we talking about ?


Is there anywhere I can look up cases where agreements have been, or not been overturned on these grounds ? any ­link­s ? I have read Edgar v Edgar but to be honest am a bit overwhelmed by it all.....

Many thanks

poppy

http://www.northampton-chambers.co.uk/newlawconcludedagreements.htm

This looks as though it might help?

Hi Maggie

Yes a little help, have sent you thanks, but it's still legal jargon that I'm not familiar with.

I need to find out in laymans terms what exactly is " Conduct before the agreement and consequent upon it"

and what in plain english might be construed as enough undue pressure to allow a judge to disregard an agreement.

I will have another read but I think I need it spelling out to me !

Anyone ?

poppy

(in need of a kindly legal expert to explain it all to me very sloooooowly as if I were 10 yrs old, for which they will be rewarded with many warm kind wishes and gooey feelings in their tummy for the rest of the month )

conduct: behaviour, attitude,guidance

undue pressure: time issues, wearing someone down, gentle blackmail, taking advantage of the legal system knowing someone can just not afford to go all the way.

Basically you need two things:
An agreement which is obviously (!!!) unjust.. so not only for specialists

and
one part claiming they had really no other chance but to sign it

Typical example: wife of many years, never married gives up nearly everything, no pension share because he "moved" towards her with a bunch of lawyers while she was still in shock and denial

or moving in with lover so hubby just signs everything to be able to afford to move out.

You need more than an unjust agreement and you need some kind of good indication there was a plan behind it.


Tummy rubs are not necessary, got my kids for that but I miss the coffe to bed in the morning..so... I a get up at 6.30.. no sugar but milk please and make it strong..

Poppy,

My understanding of Edgar, and I haven't read the case, so thanks maggie for the potted extract, is that where two adults have entered into what is intended to be a legally binding agreement, with the benefit of proper legal advice, the Court should not set the agreement aside unless there is some good reason for it. Therefore, if advising a client, the advice I would give is that there is a very good chance that a separation agreement would be upheld, but that I could not offer 100% guarantees.

The kind of circumstance where an agreement might be set aside ( not necessarily an agreement in the matrimonial context ) are

Fraud, false statements, concealing material facts, where it is reasonable to assume the agreement would not have been made, or been different, had the true facts been known.

Duress ; eg an agreement made at knifepoint, to give an extreme example ; would include an agreement made where one of the parties had been threatened ;

Unequal bargaining position of the parties ;

Undue influence : this could include solicitor and client, a religious person and his or her spiritual guru, so that if, for example, a client wanted me to leave a legacy to me in a will, I would advise him to have the will drawn up by another solicitor, because
if I drew it up it would normally be assumed that I had influenced the client, unless of course the parties were close relatives ; if I drew up wills for my wife and I each leaving everything to the other, that would be somewhat different ; nevertheless I did advise my wife to
have her will drawn up by another solicitor for reasons I don't need to go into.

Undue influence could also in theory cover situations where a lovesick and over-trusting wife or fiancee
was so moonstruck that she might agree to almost anything.

But in the final analysis, Courts will almost always do what they want to do and then find a reason for doing it, I'm afraid.

Mike

stillalive wrote:


undue pressure: time issues, wearing someone down, gentle blackmail, taking advantage of the legal system knowing someone can just not afford to go all the way.

..



All in a normal days work for the average solicitor



Thanks SA and mike for your time.

Think I'm going to be ok. I liked the Judge at First Appointment and I think he could see through the porridge.

SA - I research Edgar Principles here until 2 in the morning and you think I can get up at 6 ?????

Incidentally there were others here in chat at 2am as well as me, you know who you are, I nearly popped in to say hello but was so tired I didn'y think I would be able to string enough words together for a full scentence !!

poppy

Would Edgar principles apply to an agreement that has been signed by both parties but not endorsed by a court or solicitor? My ex and I drew up an agreement which we both signed when we separated 4 years ago which included him signing the house over to me and taking a lump sum plus vehicles etc. We have just divorced and he is now claiming ancillary relief by way of a lump sum. I am upset but not particularly surprised that now, after all this time, he is trying to take a chunk of my house basically. I want to represent myself as I am not really able to afford solicitors' fees so anything that might help my case would be useful.