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Latest Family News

Court of Appeal denies journalist’s request for extensive access to court papers (Newman v Southampton City Council)

The following Family news provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on Court of Appeal denies journalist’s request for extensive access to court papers (Newman v Southampton City Council)

Powers available to local authorities to facilitate applications for settled status for looked after children in the absence of parental co-operation (W and Re Z (EU Settled Status for Looked After Children))

Powers available to local authorities to facilitate applications for settled status for looked after children in the absence of parental co-operation (W and Re Z (EU Settled Status for Looked After Children))

Court of Appeal provides step-by-step guidance on determining whether a European regulation forms part of UK domestic law and sets out how to analyse the impact of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 (Lipton v BA City Flyer Ltd)

Court of Appeal provides step-by-step guidance on determining whether a European regulation forms part of UK domestic law and sets out how to analyse the impact of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 (Lipton v BA City Flyer Ltd)

The test to discharge a special guardianship order (Re M (special guardianship order—leave to apply to discharge))

The following Family news provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on The test to discharge a special guardianship order (Re M (special guardianship order—leave to apply to discharge))

Featured Family content

Notice of acting

Case number [insert number][In the principal registryORIn the [insert court location] FAMILY court]Sitting at [insert place]Notice of...

Private children—paramountcy of the child's welfare

The paramountcy principleWhen any court determines any question with respect to:•the upbringing of the child, or•the administration of the child's...

Pension attachment orders

The power to make pension attachment orders (previously referred to as earmarking orders) arises from the insertion of sections 25B–25D of the...

The no order principle

This Practice Note explains the no order principle contained in section 1(5) of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989). It explains when the principle...

Practice notes

Sequestration (confiscation of assets) within contempt proceedings

Sequestration is a process for dealing with a contempt of court that would be otherwise punishable by a committal under which the assets of the...

Produced in partnership with David Salter, deputy High Court judge and Recorder 12th Jan

Practice notes

Decree absolute—divorce

Online divorceWhere a divorce is proceeding via the online service note that while rules relating to divorce proceedings are generally to be found in...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Application to vary, extend or discharge a non-molestation or occupation order

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance has been issued, including by the President of the Family Division, regarding all proceedings in the Family Court in...

9th Nov

COVID-19

Practice notes

Drafting the terms of a financial consent order

This Practice Note sets out the basic principles to be applied when drafting a financial consent order including the preparation and structure of the...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Capitalised maintenance—Duxbury calculations

The basis of Duxbury calculationsA Duxbury calculation is an actuarial calculation designed to identify the capital sum required to meet a periodical...

9th Nov

Practice notes

The grounds on which a marriage is void

A void marriage is one that will be treated by the court as never having taken place. The grounds on which a marriage will be void are set out in...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Undefended divorce proceedings

Online divorceOn 6 May 2018 the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) launched its online divorce service nationwide for the public acting as litigants in person....

9th Nov

Practice notes

Void and voidable marriages

The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) sets out the grounds on which a marriage is void or voidable and the bars preventing the grant of a decree...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Working with counsel

Instructing counsel to advocate on a client’s behalf should be a matter of careful thought and preparation. The role of counsel is to provide...

Produced in partnership with Ursula Rice of Family First Solicitors Ltd 12th Jan

Practice notes

Child Arrangements Programme—the procedure for section 8 applications

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance has been issued, including by the President of the Family Division, regarding all proceedings in the Family Court in...

9th Nov

COVID-19

In-house

Practice notes

Statements of truth in family proceedings

This Practice Note is impacted by the exit of the UK from the EU on 31 January 2020. This has implications for practitioners when considering an...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Amended, supplemental and further petitions

The distinction between an amended petition, a supplemental petition and a further petitionWhere it is necessary in some way to amend a petition...

9th Nov

Precedents

Specimen statement of issues for a first appointment—financial remedy application

In the Family Court sitting at [location][Case No]Between1[insert name] ApplicantAnd2[ insert name] RespondentStatement of issues for the First...

9th Nov

Practice notes

The grounds on which a marriage is voidable

A decree of nullity granted after 31 July 1971 in respect of a voidable marriage operates to annul the marriage with effect from decree absolute and...

9th Nov

Practice notes

General principles—lump sum orders

This Practice Note sets out the general principles to be applied by the court when considering whether to make a lump sum order within financial...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Declarations of parentage—procedure

The procedure for an application for a declaration of parentage is governed by the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, Pt...

9th Nov

Most recent Factors considered by the court content

Practice notes

Financial provision for spouses and civil partners in Scotland

IP COMPLETION DAY: 11pm (GMT) on 31 December 2020 marks the end of the Brexit transition/implementation period entered into following the UK’s...

Produced in partnership with Karen Gibbons of Harper Macleod LLP 17th Mar

Scottish Law

Q&As

Where one party is permanently in a care home, and assets are being dissipated by care home fees, would this be a reason for the court to diverge from equality?

The starting point in financial cases is the checklist set out in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973). The court must have regard...

13th Feb

Q&As

A married couple separated five years ago, at which time there was no equity in the former matrimonial home. The spouse who remained in the former matrimonial home has since paid the mortgage on the property. The property has increased in value and there is now significant equity. How would the court approach the division of the equity that has now accrued?

Useful guidance on how the court is likely to treat assets which have increased in value post-separation was provided in JL v SL (No 2) (at paras [41]...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

Prior to their marriage a party received damages from a personal injury claim which was placed into a personal injury trust. On divorce, will the damages be treated as a matrimonial asset?

Section 25(2)(a) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) provides that the court must have regard to, inter alia ‘…the income, earning capacity,...

13th Feb

Q&As

The parties are joint tenants in relation to the former matrimonial home. By agreement, they remortgaged the property to release equity. On the breakdown of the marriage, one spouse asked the other spouse to repay sums from the equity release, which they refused to do. Where a sum has been withdrawn from the marital joint assets and spent on a mutually agreed venture, what obligation does a spouse have to repay that sum to the other spouse should the marriage end?

While spouses are able to enter into contractual and debt arrangements as between themselves, on the coming to the end of a marriage, the financial...

Produced in partnership with Chris Bryden of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

Case law on the impact of the cohabitation of a party appears to relate to the impact on the amount of maintenance awarded by the court. Is there case law on the scenario where the capital resources of a cohabitant have reduced an award of capital to a party on the basis that their needs are met by their cohabitant’s capital resources?

It is correct that the case law in this field has almost entirely focused upon the relevance of cohabitation to the issue of ongoing spousal...

Produced in partnership with Nicholas Starks of St Ives Chambers 13th Feb

Q&As

In financial proceedings, is it acceptable to take into account payments that a party has historically paid to a nephew or niece in respect of school fees?

It is more common for the court to be concerned with the affordability of school fees in relation to a child or children of the parties, and there...

13th Feb

Q&As

Where both parties are retired, and one spouse’s pension income is twice that of the other spouse, would the court make an order for joint lives maintenance?

It is now rare that a court will make an order for joint lives maintenance (ie an order for spousal maintenance that would continue until the payee...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

Where a redundancy payment is received by a party during the course of the marriage, will it be treated as part of the marital acquest?

Within the context of financial provision proceedings, a redundancy payment is a resource to be utilised in lieu of the salary. Just as a salary would...

Produced in partnership with Matthew Haynes of St Ives Chambers 12th Feb

Practice notes

Factors considered by the court on financial provision

This Practice Note provides an introduction to the factors to be taken into account by the court by virtue of the legislative provisions of section 25...

17th Jan

Practice notes

Income and earning capacity of the parties

By virtue of section 25(2)(a) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973), the court must give consideration to:'…the income, earning capacity,...

17th Jan

Practice notes

The age of the parties and the length of the marriage or civil partnership

By virtue of section 25(2)(d) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) the court must give consideration to:'…the age of each party to the...

17th Jan

Practice notes

Contributions of the parties

In financial order proceedings, the court must have regard to a range of factors that are set out in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973...

17th Jan

Practice notes

The needs of the parties

The needs of the parties is one of the factors to be considered by the court under the checklist set out in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act...

17th Jan

Q&As

In financial remedy proceedings, where the husband has credit cards that are in his sole name but were used for the benefit of the family by way of general family living expenses during a long marriage, is the onus on the husband to prove that the credit cards debts are family debts or is it on the wife to prove that they are not family debts and were used solely for the benefit of the husband?

The question raises the not uncommon scenario within financial remedy proceedings of how to treat debts. A distinction is drawn between debts incurred...

Produced in partnership with Matthew Haynes of St Ives Chambers 8th Jan

Q&As

Is there family case law involving the consideration of student loans, and when or whether they are to be repaid or written off? How is a student loan treated if it is not being paid off by a party and is unlikely to be?

It is assumed for the purposes of this question that the loan in question is that of one of the parties themselves, and not of one of the children of...

Produced in partnership with Nicholas Starks of St Ives Chambers 8th Jan

Q&As

Where the parties to a divorce in which a financial consent order was made providing for one party to retain the proceeds of sale of the former matrimonial home, and the other party their pension, together with a clean break order, and the parties then reconcile and remarry each other, will the court have regard to the previous order and clean break? Will the parties only be entitled to a share in assets, including pensions, that have accumulated since they remarried? Could the remarriage constitute a Barder event sufficient to set aside the consent order?

Where a couple subsequently reconciles and remarries, in the event they were to separate again, and a fresh application would made for financial...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 8th Jan

Q&As

Where a party to private children proceedings uses savings in their sole name to fund their legal fees and the other party is legally aided, would the other party be able to argue in any subsequent financial proceedings that the savings spent on legal fees should be added back into the marital assets on the basis that the savings plus a pension are the only assets?

The powers of the court in dividing the assets of spouses on divorce are wide-ranging and powerful. The court has a very broad discretion provided to...

Produced in partnership with Chris Bryden of 4 King’s Bench Walk 8th Jan

Q&As

Where a party transferred their interest in the former family home to the other party without legal advice and full and frank disclosure, will the property still be treated as a marital asset in financial proceedings? Could an argument be made that there should be a departure from equality due to the transfer? Would the period of time that has elapsed between decree absolute (and the transfer of the former family home) and the issue of the financial application have any bearing on this?

The question, which is expressed in general terms, may be broken down into three parts.First, where a party transfers their interest in the former...

Produced in partnership with Matthew Haynes of St Ives Chambers 8th Jan

Q&As

Is there case law authority where a respondent to an unreasonable behaviour petition allows the divorce to proceed on an undefended basis, that the petitioner cannot then within other proceedings, such as a financial remedy, refer to the fact that the petition was not defended and rely on the particulars in the petition?

A divorce petition needs to satisfy the court of one or more of the following facts in order for the court to hold that the marriage has broken down...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 8th Jan

Factors considered by the court

View Family by content type:

Latest Family News

Court of Appeal denies journalist’s request for extensive access to court papers (Newman v Southampton City Council)

Powers available to local authorities to facilitate applications for settled status for looked after children in the absence of parental co-operation (W and Re Z (EU Settled Status for Looked After Children))

Court of Appeal provides step-by-step guidance on determining whether a European regulation forms part of UK domestic law and sets out how to analyse the impact of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 (Lipton v BA City Flyer Ltd)

The test to discharge a special guardianship order (Re M (special guardianship order—leave to apply to discharge))

Featured Family content

Notice of acting

Private children—paramountcy of the child's welfare

Pension attachment orders

The no order principle

Most recent Factors considered by the court content

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Rescission of a contract

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