Value in personal relationships and the reallocation of property on divorce

This chapter suggests an alternative frame of reference for an analysis of the seemingly intractable problems that beset those engaged in thinking about the redistribution of property on divorce. It argues that we should reflect upon the absence of an appropriate mechanism for settling value in personal relationships. The chapter aims to argue that people should take from their ending relationships something different from the quantity of property (and income) that is, in the law of property, theirs in title. It argues that the bases upon which property distribution takes place in England and Wales are unclear and less than satisfactory. The chapter suggests that the reason for the sense of unease that preoccupies almost all commentators might be addressed by shifting the centre of consideration to the question of value in personal relationships. It argues that people should take from their relationships that have ended an allocation of property and income that accords with a Rawlsian conception of justice.