In cases where the provision for an ex-spouse is being decided (which lawyers call "ancillary relief"), there can be a settlement leading to a series of payments or there may be a single sum paid when a "clean break" is wanted. In a recent case, an attempt was made effectively to recalculate the division of the capital by changing the settlement from a series of payments to a single capital sum.
The court, however, did not concur, stating that their function is not to reopen the claim in such circumstances but to substitute such a sum in place of the periodic payments that would fairly compensate the payee and complete the clean break.
