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Permission to take children to a non-Hague country during the pandemic (K v K)

The following Family news provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on Permission to take children to a non-Hague country during the pandemic (K v K)

Childrens’ services referrals—the duty of confidence and the public interest (A local authority v AM)

The following Commercial news provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on Childrens’ services referrals—the duty of confidence and the public interest (A local authority v AM)

Treatment of matrimonial and non-matrimonial property in a long marriage (WX v HX)

The following Family news provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on Treatment of matrimonial and non-matrimonial property in a long marriage (WX v HX)

Relocating an incapacitous individual to a different jurisdiction (Re UR (Rev 1))

The following Family news provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on Relocating an incapacitous individual to a different jurisdiction (Re UR (Rev 1))

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

Grounds for judicial separation

Applications for judicial separation are relatively rare in practice. It may arise where the client has strong religious and or cultural reasons for...

9th Nov

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

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 Practice and procedure content

Q&As

Where the assets in relation to financial provision on divorce are very limited to non-existent, and one party would like to proceed by way of a clean break order, would it be disproportionate to issue a financial application in Form A?

Financial proceedings on divorce are subject to the overriding objective in the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, 1.1, with the...

13th Feb

Q&As

Where no divorce petition has been filed, what are the options for a spouse to recover assets where the other party has withdrawn savings from both personal and business accounts? Can an application to set aside dealings under section 37 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 only be made where there are existing proceedings?

Pursuant to section 37 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973), the court may make an order setting aside a disposition, or make an order...

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

Q&As

Where the new partner of a spouse who remains in occupation of the former matrimonial home moves into that property, can the non-occupying spouse make a claim for the new partner to pay them rent in relation to that property?

It is commonly the case on the breakdown of a marriage that, by the time financial remedies proceedings come before the court, one or both of the...

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

Q&As

Do the Family Procedure Rules 2010 require a mortgagee to be served with a copy of the applicant’s financial application in Form A where an agreement is reached regarding the transfer of a property?

Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, 9.13(3) provides that:‘Where an application for a financial remedy includes an application...

13th Feb

Q&As

The family home is registered in the sole name of one spouse and the other spouse registered their home rights under the Family Law Act 1996. Decree absolute has been pronounced, but there are no financial proceedings. What rights does the non-owning spouse have to remain in the property in the event that they made an application to extend their home rights before decree absolute, or where they did not make an application to extend their home rights? In what other ways could the non-owning spouse protect both their interest in the property and their occupation of the property?

Section 30 of the Family Law Act 1996 (FLA 1996) provides that where spouse A is entitled to occupy a dwelling house through a beneficial interest in...

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

Q&As

Can the court order a transfer of equity from both owners to one owner of a property?

For the purposes of this Q&A we have assumed that the transfer of equity is in a family law context.Pursuant to section 24 of the Matrimonial Causes...

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

Q&As

A property adjustment order has been made in relation to a property purchased under the ‘right to buy’ provisions of the Housing Act 1985 (HA 1985). The property is subject to a charge that provides for the repayment of the discount applied under the right to buy scheme. In such circumstances, will the landlord have a right of first refusal (per HA 1985, s 156A) or will the property adjustment order mean that it is an exempted disposal (per HA 1985, s 160)? Will the discount still be repayable (per HA 1985, s 155)?

Part V of the Housing Act 1985 (HA 1985) contains provisions relating to the right to buy. This provides that a secure tenant of a dwelling-house in...

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

Q&As

The parties were briefly married, then divorced but subsequently cohabited for a lengthy period. There was no clean break order as to finances on divorce. Would a claim in relation to the jointly owned former matrimonial home and a pension be made under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 or the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996?

The principal powers to make financial provision upon divorce are contained in sections 23, 24 and 24B of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973)....

Produced in partnership with Nicholas Starks of St Ives Chambers 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

In financial remedy proceedings, can a litigant in person exhibit to a section 25 statement a number of documents from other sets of proceedings the parties are engaged in (eg a Cafcass report, child arrangements order and a transcript of the hearing in Family Law Act proceedings)? Do the Family Procedure Rules 2010 make provision for this, and is the leave of the court required to exhibit these documents?

The Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/12955 do not, in terms, make provision for the disclosure into financial remedy proceedings of...

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

Q&As

Can a consent order that includes provision for a deferred lump sum and a capital clean break be varied by consent to substitute the lump sum order with a pension sharing order and retain the clean break provisions?

A pension can only be transferred to another person on death or as a result of financial relief proceedings on divorce or dissolution.If the final...

Produced in partnership with Paul Infield of The 36 Group 13th Feb

Q&As

Can a financial consent order, or a final order made by the court, include provision for both parties to each pay lump sums to the other party, ie for there to be two lump sums with different payers and payees in the order?

The court can make a lump sum order (payable either in one sum or by instalments), a series of lump sum orders or a deferred lump sum order. That...

Produced in partnership with Paul Infield of The 36 Group 13th Feb

Q&As

Where following the closure of evidence at a final financial remedy hearing, but before judgment has been delivered, there has been a change in circumstances can the judge have regard to those changes when delivering judgment?

There is an ongoing duty of disclosure in financial remedy proceedings and the court must have regard to all the circumstances of the case when...

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

Q&As

Can a party send copies of documents that were annexed to the Form E filed by the other party in ancillary relief proceedings to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) with the aim of contradicting information provided to the CMS by that party, or is the ancillary relief information confidential? What are possible consequences of the information being sent to the CMS?

Relevant legal provisionsRule 29.12 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955 provides that no document or copy of a document filed...

Produced in partnership with Charmian Jackson of St Ives Chambers 13th Feb

Q&As

Where the decree absolute has been pronounced, and the respondent to the petition has remarried, can the respondent apply to the court for an order dismissing the petitioner’s claims and for a clean break?

The powers of the court to order financial provision upon divorce are contained in Part II of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973). See Practice...

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

Q&As

Where a party to financial proceedings has a new partner, and says they have no knowledge as to their partner's income and capital, can the court make an order for disclosure?

Where a party to financial proceedings has a new partner, and says they have no knowledge as to their partner's income and capital, the question to be...

Produced in partnership with Christi Scarborough of 42 Bedford Row 13th Feb

Q&As

Financial remedy proceedings are underway, but the first appointment has not yet taken place. The applicant has discovered that the respondent is terminally ill and does not have long to live. Can the proceedings be expedited, and if so, what would be the procedure for an application to expedite?

An application within existing financial remedy proceedings is made using the procedure under Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, Pt...

13th Feb

Q&As

Where a court appointed single joint expert has failed to comply with a court order to file their report, can an application be made to the court for the expert to attend court and explain their non-compliance? If so, what is the procedure? Can an order for costs be made against an expert in those circumstances?

The appointment of an expert in family proceedings is governed by Part 25 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955. Pursuant to FPR...

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

Q&As

The parties are married and lived in a property jointly owned by one spouse and a third party. The parties separated and the applicant spouse obtained an occupation order for a period of four months. The applicant now wishes to register a matrimonial home rights notice with the Land Registry against the property owned by their spouse and the third party. Can the applicant register such a notice, and are they assisted by the decision in Abdullah v Westminster City Council [2011] EWCA Civ 1171?

A home rights notice under the Family Law Act 1996 (FLA 1996), as amended by the Civil Partnership Act 2004, gives protection to a husband, wife or...

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

Q&As

What steps can be taken where a respondent to a financial application refuses to engage in the proceedings? For example, where correspondence is sent to the respondent’s known address but they don’t respond, they don’t attend hearings, and attempts at personal service have not been effective.

If pre-application correspondence is leading nowhere, for the applicant the most practical course of action can be to issue proceedings. This is not...

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