Sahar, Bowanes & Partners

On the court record

A family-law practice recorded across the arc of matrimonial disputes — decree amendments, custody, maintenance and division of matrimonial assets under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 — at first instance and on appeal.

Sahar, Bowanes & Partners is recorded in the corpus in matrimonial and family-law litigation, at first instance and on appeal. In one High Court matter the firm acted for the respondent in an application for ancillary relief made by amendment to several paragraphs of a decree nisi, brought under the provisions of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 and the Divorce and Matrimonial Proceedings Rules 1980, where the court allowed the application subject to further amendments it made. On appeal the firm appeared for the appellant in a Court of Appeal matter arising from a divorce petition and cross-petition, engaging custody, the rate of maintenance, and the division of matrimonial assets — the court weighing the evidential burden of proof and the parties' respective monetary and non-monetary contributions under the same 1976 Act, together with a claim to sole guardianship. A further High Court matter, in which the firm acted for the defence, ended with a disposition the court recorded plainly: Mahkamah menolak permohonan dan tuntutan pihak plaintif manakala tuntutan balas defendan dibenarkan (the court dismissed the plaintiff's application and claim, while the defendant's counterclaim was allowed), with the plaintiff ordered to pay costs to the defendant. Taken together, the matters trace a family-law practice that works across the full arc of matrimonial disputes — from the shaping and amendment of a decree, through contested custody, maintenance and asset division, to the resolution of the associated civil claims between the parties. The record shows the firm engaged with the discretionary, fact-sensitive judgments that characterise this field, where the outcome depends on the assessment of contributions, the welfare considerations bearing on children, and the burden that each party must discharge before the court will grant the relief sought. In the appellate matter the division of matrimonial assets turned on the weighing of monetary against non-monetary contributions under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, alongside the contested claim to sole guardianship.