Containing the proceedings of a conference arranged by the Society of Public Teachers of Law in early 1998, this text explores the strengths, weaknesses and future of financial provision in the event of family breakdown. The principles of the English system of ancilliary relief are compared with their Australian and German counterparts, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of these different approaches and indicating the likely nature of reform. The treatment of unmarried couples is also presented from the US viewpoint and there is a contribution on the problems of pension-splitting.