If there are special circumstances, or they are receiving further education or training, a child who has reached the age of 18 may apply themselves for periodical payments or a lump sum pursuant to paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1991). However, if there was a child maintenance order in force in respect of the child before they reached the age of 16 then they are unable to apply under this provision. In this Q&A, it is assumed that the order for child maintenance

The respondent is entitled to occupy the council-owned property (‘the property’) because of the tenancy agreement, but there is no order in place securing the applicant’s home rights following decree absolute. The appropriate application to make will depend upon the facts of the case. If the applicant urgently needs to remain in the property, then it may be appropriate to apply for an occupation order under section 35 of the Family Law Act 1996 (FLA 1996). FLA 1996, s 35 applies if one former spouse is entitled to occupy a dwelling house, the other former spouse is not so entitled, and the dwelling house was the matrimonial

The procedure for divorce and other matrimonial causes is covered by the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, Pt 7. If the original application for a divorce has not been dismissed, or finally determined by the court, that original petition still remains ‘live’ despite the lapse in time. Where there is already a petition by the same petitioner on file which has not been dismissed or finally determined, that petitioner cannot file a further (or second) petition without first obtaining permission from the court, except that no permission is required where the purpose of the further petition is to seek a divorce, or dissolution, following the expiration of one year from the date of the marriage, or civil partnership, on the basis of the same facts contained in

The documentation to be filed and served in relation to an application for a child arrangements order is strictly controlled to try and avoid matters becoming inflamed by comments and allegations in forms, statements and reports before the parties have had an opportunity to resolve matters amicably by negotiation. Statements or copies of other documents (including experts' reports) on which a party intends to rely should not be filed or served until the court so directs

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). Each of those sections enables the court to make orders both ‘on granting a decree of divorce… or at any time thereafter’. There is therefore no ‘statute of limitations’ upon financial claims following a divorce and strictly can be brought at any time thereafter, though the reason for the delay will be pertinent to the exercise of the court’s discretion (see: Wyatt v Vince at para [32]). See Practice Note: Financial proceedings—orders that can be made by the court. There is no power to make pension sharing orders at all under the

The Family Law Act 1986 (FLA 1986) introduced provisions for the recognition of overseas divorces which took place on or after 4 April 1988. In summary, pursuant to FLA 1986, s 46, an overseas divorce granted within proceedings is recognised if it is effective under the law of the country in which it was obtained, and at the date on which proceedings were begun, either party was either habitually resident or domiciled in that country or was a national of that country. The issue in the scenario of this Q&A is that the divorce may potentially not be ‘effective’ because the

Arbitration analysis: In a decision of 24 February 2026, the Paris Court of Appeal dismissed Team France SAS (Team France)’s action to set-aside a French Arbitration Association (AFA) award in favor of M. [W] [B] (M. [B]) and his company SASU Immo Dream (Immo Dream) (the Award). Team France sought annulment of the Award on the basis of an alleged violation of due process under Article 1492(4) of the French Code of Civil Procedure (FCCP), arguing that the arbitral tribunal relied on a belated argument submitted in the post-hearing phase and on additional grounds that it raised sua sponte without giving the parties an opportunity to comment. The court dismissed all allegations of due process violations. It started by recalling that, under Article 1466 of the FCCP, a party who fails to raise a procedural irregularity in a timely manner during the arbitration shall be deemed estopped from relying on it later. The court further explained that arguments addressed during the hearing and in the post-hearing submissions cannot be challenged before the annulment judge if the party failed to raise the alleged irregularity before the arbitral tribunal and to request the reopening of the proceedings. The court also clarified that the tribunal did not violate due process by: finding Team France’s claim for a reduction of damages raised in its post-hearing brief inadmissible as Team France could have requested to reopen the proceedings but failed to do so; and relying on the absence of certain documents at the time the contract was executed, to conclude that it must be deemed rescinded. The tribunal had requested these documents, which had been included as appendices to a pre-contractual document submitted in the arbitral proceedings, from the parties, to no avail. Written by Julie Spinelli, partner, Emma Ruby, associate, and Marta Kakounis, trainee, at Le 16 Law.

This Practice Note explores the impact of high inflation on defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pension schemes and suggests some actions which trustees should take. Impact for defined contribution (DC) schemes For DC schemes, high inflation bears more of an impact on scheme members than on the trustees/scheme provider. The key impact concerns retirement income—and this, for the following reasons: • active and deferred members—where contributions are paid as a percentage of salary, the amount of these contributions may fall in real terms where the member’s salary fails to be increased in line with inflation. Moreover, unless investment returns can keep up with inflation, the estimated retirement income of members who are still building their pensions pots will be detrimentally affected. This may result in members choosing to postpone their retirement date • members approaching retirement—such members typically switch to a low-risk investment strategy such as bonds and cash holdings. However such a strategy may do nothing to offset the impact of high inflation. Members approaching retirement should carefully consider how they

It is important for the in-house legal department to have a clear and communicated structure in place for performance management, which aims to: • support your employees’ careers • maximise their potential • align your workforce with the strategic aims of the business • set tangible and flexible objectives and goals • enable regular feedback between the individual lawyer and their manager • focus on growth and recognition of achievements Without a formal system, much will depend on the attitude of individual managers. Some might agree appropriate objectives with people in their team and give regular feedback on their performance, while others may not. Good performance management helps everyone to understand: • what the business is trying to achieve • their role in helping the business achieve its goals • the skills and behaviours that they need to fulfill their role • the standards of performance required • how they are performing against these standards • how they can develop their performance and contribute to the development of the business Your organisation may well have an organisation-wide

PI & Clinical Negligence analysis: The High Court dismissed an appeal against the refusal of a late application to amend a clinical negligence claim after limitation had expired. The proposed amendment replaced an admitted breach concerning the premature switch from intravenous to oral antibiotics with a disputed allegation that the wrong antibiotic had been administered. The court held that this constituted a new claim which did not arise from the same or substantially the same facts already in issue for the purposes of CPR 17.4. It also declined to exercise the section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980 (LA 1980) discretion. The decision underlines the need to ensure that pleadings accord with available expert evidence and to address inconsistencies promptly, particularly where limitation has expired. Produced in partnership with Jennifer Dickinson of Cobden House Chambers.

PI & Clinical Negligence analysis: At the tail end of 2024, the Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood MP, announced the results of her five-month long review of the discount rate, first announced in July 2024. One month on from the new +0.5% discount rate coming into force, Thea Wilson (barrister at 12 King’s Bench Walk) reviews the impact on cases of the new discount rate, the reaction from those representing claimants and defendants, and the implications of the change for legal practitioners.

A personal representative (PR) of an estate (whether as executor or administrator) is responsible for the administration of that estate, by gathering in the assets and distributing them according to the will or the intestacy rules. See Practice Note: Definition of a personal representative. The PR is entitled to delegate this function to an appointee acting on behalf of the PR by way of a power of attorney (PoA). The PoA entitles the donee of the power to take such steps within the limit of the grant as if they were the donor. See Lexis® PSL Wills & Probate subtopic: Personal representatives—overview. A PoA may be expressed to be limited to certain powers (such as, for example, the obtaining of the grant of letters of administration, or all steps