‘Parental responsibility’ means all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and their property (section 3(1) of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989)). If a father is not married or in a civil partnership with the mother of the child at the time of the child’s birth (such marriage or civil partnership automatically giving the father parental responsibility), the father may acquire parental responsibility for the child by being registered as the father on the child’s birth certificate, by entering into a parental responsibility agreement with the mother or by applying to the court for a parental responsibility order. Under Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of

In proceedings that involve children (ie persons under the age of 18) or protected parties (persons who lack capacity to conduct their own litigation), special provisions apply, as set out in CPR 21. CPR 21.2(2) provides that a child must have a litigation friend to conduct proceedings on their behalf unless the court makes an order permitting a child to conduct proceedings without a litigation friend. No steps in proceedings save for issuing and serving a claim form or applying for the appointment of a litigation friend under CPR 21.6 can be taken until a litigation friend is in place for the child, and any step taken has no effect unless the court orders otherwise. Where no litigation friend has been appointed, a person may

For detailed information: • on the right to shared parental leave on the birth of a child, see Practice Note: Shared parental leave (birth) • on the right to shared parental pay on the birth of a child, see Practice Note: Shared parental pay (birth) Eligibility conditions For the father or partner to be eligible to take shared parental leave, a number of conditions must be met (a) by the father or partner, and (b) by the mother. For more information, see the section of Practice Note: Shared parental leave (birth) entitled ‘Eligibility conditions for the father or partner’. The conditions to be

A non-biological father may have parental responsibility by virtue of an adoption order or having acquired parental responsibility as a step-parent either by agreement with the mother or through an order by the court. Every parent with parental responsibility for a child will need to agree on any decision of importance and, if the parties can’t agree, an application can be made under the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989). There are a number of applications that can be made under ChA 1989, s 8. If the issue is one of contact, then an application may be made for a child arrangements order (CAO). An application can also be made for a prohibited steps order to prevent another party from taking certain action or a party can ask the court to adjudicate on a specific issue by way of a specific

This Q&A covers charging orders made in respect of judgment debts and for the purposes of this Q&A we assume the charging order was obtained against a judgment debtor in respect of the judgment debtor’s beneficial interest in a jointly owned property. This Q&A focuses on what notice must be given of any intended sale and what happens if the judgment debtor dies before the charge is discharged (paid off). Sale of property Charging orders do not guarantee payment of a debt. A charging order over a beneficial interest under a trust can be protected by a restriction. In

Applications to set aside a final order made within financial remedy proceedings should be made in accordance with the Family Procedure Rules (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, 9.9A. FPR 2010, PD 9A, para 13.1 lists the grounds on which such an order made be set aside. The grounds include material non-disclosure and a subsequent event, unforeseen and unforeseeable at the time the order was made, which invalidates the basis on which the order was made. A failure by a wife to inform a husband that the children of the family are not biologically his is arguably non-disclosure, but the key issue is whether that non-disclosure is material. The court would

Case study In financial remedy proceedings between A and B, the final order recorded in the recitals that there was an agreement that the former matrimonial home would be sold, and the net proceeds of sale divided equally between the parties. The order does not specifically include an order for sale but does include an order that the wife instruct a particular estate agent and that that the conveyancing be conducted by her solicitor. There have been various problems with the husband co-operating with the sale. No purchaser has yet been found for the property, but the wife would like to execute a sale at the earliest possible opportunity. Were it the case that the order provided for sale of the matrimonial

In answering this Q&A, we have considered the following: • the standard wording of the order • where the third party is not a bank • the costs provisions under CPR 45.1(2)(g) and the fixed costs set out in CPR 45.8, Table 5 Third party debt orders A third party debt order requires a party which owes a debt to the judgment debtor to pay the judgment creditor instead. Where a final order is made requiring such a payment, the third party’s debt to the judgment debtor is discharged to the extent that the judgment creditor is paid (CPR 72.9). Often, the third party will be a bank or building society with which the judgment debtor has an account, but not always. The judgment creditor’s fixed costs of enforcement are specifically dealt with at CPR 72.11, and the amount is stipulated at CPR 45.8 (Table 5). The judgment creditor is entitled to allocate

This issue does not appear to be specifically covered by the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955 and in particular FPR 2010, PD 36N, which sets out the procedure for the online filing and progression of applications

Where a financial remedy application is made in respect of land, there is no formal requirement to serve the application in Form A on anyone other than a mortgagee (and, of course, the other spouse) (Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010),

This Q&A deals with two separate scenarios. In either instance, one party is free to change their mind: the issue is whether they will be bound by the agreement which they have reached. The courts will be astute to apply the public policy of upholding agreements which have been freely entered into subject to, in this arena of law, ensuring that they are fair when measured against the section 25 criteria of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The first question relates to the scenario of where a consent order has been drawn up and signed, possibly approved by the judge, but the change of mind occurs prior to the actual sealing of the order.

An order derives its legal effect from its approval by the court and not simply from its filing with the consent of both parties (de Lasala v de Lasala). The remarriage of a party should be drawn to the attention of the court as soon as possible prior to the consideration of the documents filed, as the parties owe a continuing duty of full and frank disclosure (Jenkins v Livesey). If the applicant/payee remarries, section 28(3) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) imposes an almost absolute bar on the court's jurisdiction to entertain an application for financial provision after remarriage. The only exception to this is an application for a pension sharing order. If the application is made before remarriage, there is no jurisdictional objection to it being proceeded