Come on Barbie, Let's Go... to Court.

'When love is measured against section 25 factors'

Barbie left her perfect pink world and stepped into ours: messy, unequal and full of rules that she never learned.

When the Barbie movie hit cinemas in the summer of 2023, the internet was inundated with pink outfits and think pieces on patriarchy. Margot Robbie captured perfectly what it means to leave an idealised world and enter reality.

Beneath all the pink noise was a story everyone recognised. That dizzying moment when you realise the world doesn’t work the way you were told it would. Leaving a fantasy doesn’t just wake you up, it shows you that fairness isn’t natural; it's negotiated.

For divorcing couples, that awakening has a name:

Financial remedies.

The part of family law that decides, when love, money and reality collide. In essence, it’s the legal system’s version of waking up in the real world, where dream houses become asset schedules and love is measured against ‘section 25 factors’.

Credit: Barbie Movie

From Dream House to Disclosure

Marriage, in theory, sounds like Barbieland. Shared dreams, joint effort, one life built together. Divorce? Divorce is where the credits roll and the spreadsheets begin. Every assumption about fairness, sacrifice, money, and love, gets cross-examined under the cold light of case law.

In Barbieland, everyone is equal. Every Barbie is brilliant. Every Ken is supportive. Fairness is an aesthetic, not an argument. In the real world, fairness must be enforced, measured and structured.

Many separating couples assume that fairness is obvious, that shared means equal.

It doesn’t.

Barbie may seem disillusioned, but most couples going through divorce face the same awakening. It’s uncharted territory. What feels effortless in Barbie’s world is governed by rules, disclosure, and judicial oversight in ours.

That’s where financial remedies steps in, it exists to provide clarity when a marriage ends. Shared intentions give way to evidence. Forms, valuations, full financial disclosure turn ‘what’s ours’ into ‘what’s mine, what’s yours? and what’s fair?’.

The law begins from the principle of sharing, aiming for both parties to leave with an equal share of the assets built during the marriage. Reality, however, rarely deals in neat halves. Fairness isn’t a math problem and life complicates the numbers.

Needs, contributions, children, and the length of the marriage can all justify a departure from equality. Often, the focus shifts moving from equality to necessity, ensuring that each person can meet their housing needs, income needs, care for any children, and move forward with stability.

In other words, fairness isn’t about splitting everything in half, it’s about restoring a sense of balance in the aftermath of imbalance.

Credit: Amy Taylor Styling

The Section 25 Reality Check

So, how does the court decide who gets what? You’ve probably seen my references to ‘section 25 factors’ sprinkled above, but what exactly is Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973?

In short, it’s the legal framework judges use to determine a fair outcome, and the compass family lawyers rely on to guide their advice to clients when love turns into voluntary disclosure, negotiations, or worse, litigation.

Section 25(2) considers:

a. Income and earning capacity — who’s earning, who’s not, and who could?

b. Needs, obligations, and responsibilities — housing, children, day-to-day survival.

c. Standard of living — what was the daily reality?

d. Age and duration of marriage — How long did this “forever” actually last?

e. Physical or mental disability — for example long-term health issues or additional care needs.

f. Contributions — money, yes (obviously) but also childcare, homemaking, emotional labour, the unvalued contributions.

g. Conduct — but only if it’s truly shocking and relates directly to the finances.

h. Loss of benefits — pensions, perks, the invisible stuff that matters later

Section 25 is not about punishing or rewarding; it’s about helping both parties’ step into their new realities. It asks what’s needed? what’s fair? what’s realistic?

Understanding the Rules is Self-Preservation

The pink haze of ‘forever’ eventually clears, and you realise that understanding the rules isn’t cynical, it’s self-preservation. In the real world, clarity is power. Knowing how your expectations translate into real-life outcomes is what gives you control.

Fairness isn’t instinctive, it’s a process. Built from disclosure, guided by law, and shaped by the quiet discretion of judges who must turn emotion into equity.

Family lawyers exist to bring structure to your emotion and guidance to heartbreak. In financial remedies, our role (and your power) lies in preparation, knowledge, and foresight.

It’s the process of unlearning the fairytales we were sold and replacing them with understanding, strategy, and realistic expectations.

Barbie didn’t abandon Barbieland entirely. She returned wiser, prepared, and ready to navigate reality without losing the essence of who she was. Financial remedies do the same. It turns fantasy into a framework so you can move forward with confidence.

So, come on Barbie, let’s find structure, stability, and closure.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice.

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Yvonne Nzé Taiwo

Yvonne is a qualified lawyer and founder of Pink Noise, exploring the intersection of law, relationships and culture to bring clarity to the complex systems shaping women's lives. For enquiries: hello@pinknoise.co

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