Applications under the Married Women's Property Act 1882, s 17

Applications under the Married Women’s Property Act 1882 and its civil partnership equivalent—spouses and civil partners

Section 17 of the Married Women’s Property Act 1882 (MWPA 1882) and its Civil Partnership Act 2004 (CPA 2004) equivalent (CPA 2004, s 66) enable the court to make such order as it thinks fit in relation to questions as to the title or possession of property between spouses or civil partners.

The court does not have redistributive powers but can make a declaration as to legal title, beneficial interests and possession, and can make a range of orders including orders for sale, orders for the delivery up of property, or lump sum orders in respect of a party’s share of property that has been disposed of, as well as injunctive orders

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Family News

Family weekly highlights—18 September 2025

This week's edition of the Family weekly highlights includes details of the Ministry of Justice’s evaluation report of the HMCTS reform digital services together with the Public Accounts committee report on improving family court services for children and the re-release of the Payment by Account dropdown feature by HMCTS. Recent judgments on variation of transparency orders in public children proceedings and wardship/return orders under the inherent jurisdiction are also considered. A new checklist on the appointment of intermediaries in family proceedings has been added to the capacity and vulnerable parties subtopic.

Public Accounts committee report on improving family court services for children

On 12 September 2025, the House of Commons Public Accounts committee published a report on improving family court services for children. The report highlights that statutory targets such as the 26 week completion requirement for most public law cases have never been met, with case durations averaging 36 to 41 weeks and over 4,000 children involved in cases open for more than 100 weeks. The report identifies multiple factors contributing to delays, including shortages of district judges and social workers (especially in London and the South East), complex administrative processes and fragmented accountability structures across various state bodies.

Family Public Law (FPL) re-release of PBA dropdown feature

HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has confirmed that following the release on 28 August 2025 of a dropdown feature for Payment by Account (PBA) (see LNB News 21/08/2025 1), it has received reports that some organisations were unable to locate their PBA number in the dropdown, which prevented them from submitting applications. As a result, HMCTS has made the decision to roll back the release to allow time for further investigation and the feature will be re-released on 2 October 2025.

MoJ publishes HMCTS digital services reform evaluation report

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published an evaluation report, examining the HMCTS Reform Digital Services aimed at modernising seven civil, family, and tribunal services between 2016-2025. The report, conducted by Frontier Economics and IFF Research, found improved accessibility for public users but highlighted implementation challenges for legal professionals.