Saturday 24th January 2026 • Promotional Content


Finance, Careers & Personal Development Newspaper Making divorce better in 2026


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Miles Preston is the original leading family law boutique law firm in London


Miles Preston senior partner, Marcus Dearle, has acted in some of the highest value and most complex international di- vorce and relationship breakdown cases both in London and Hong Kong. Tatler Advisory


reports


Children might bite back


that he ‘is the go-to family law specialist in London to rescue cases that have gone off the rails and put them back on, as demonstrated by his recent tenacious and successful representa- tion of Sir Frederick Barclay in his high profile divorce.’ Troughout his 36-year career since


he qualified in 1990 (with 26 years at Withers), Marcus has promoted the importance of trying to prevent con- flict before it starts, to help limit dam- age to relationships with children. He’s a family lawyer partially because of his experience as a child with his parents’ divorce. To deter and to warn further, he’s


recently published an article in the UK’s leading family law periodical, Lexis Nexis’s Family law (Journal), in which he wrote: ‘We need to inject a dose of con-


MARCUS DEARLE, SENIOR PARTNER AT MILES PRESTON


structive disruption into family law. More robust and challenging efforts of deterrence with ‘teeth’ are needed


to protect parents’ bonds with their children from the damaging effects of relationship breakdown.’ He also highlights concerns about the totally avoidable, self-destruc- tive and aggressive litigation strategies that are regularly adopted — especially in high and ultra-high net worth cases. In the article, Marcus repeated warnings he made in Te Times 22 years ago on 23 March 2004, which still remain


highly relevant: ‘In the early stages of a relationship


breakdown when emotions are run- ning high, the best strategy is for the lawyers to get to work on a dam- age-limitation exercise.’ And that: ‘Some children also never


forgive parents who have involved them in or have acrimonious litiga- tion, often leading to unintended and tragic consequences’. He also reported that: ‘a number


of High Court Family Division judg- es have highlighted the toxicity, ‘ag- gression’, ‘damage’, ‘destruction’ and ‘toll’ affecting ‘everyone involved’ in some cases,’ And in one 2021 case of Crowther v


Crowther, Mr Justice Peel found that: ‘Each party thinks the other is, to


use their own words, “out to destroy” them. Tese proceedings have been


intensely acrimonious. Tey, and their lawyers, have adopted a bitterly fought adversarial approach. I asked myself on a number of occasions whether the aggressive approach adopted by each side has achieved anything.’ And so, what are the consequences?


In some cases, children will cut them- selves off partially or completely from either or both parents. Te key message for 2026 is clear.


It’s one of deterrence. To try to make divorce better. If you’re a parent sadly


going through relationship


breakdown, think and prepare care- fully. Adopting an aggressive ap- proach can so often backfire. Children might bite back.


Miles Preston Templar House, 81-87 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6DF T: +44(0)20 7583 0583 milespreston.co.uk


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