The new Express Financial Remedy Pilot Scheme (PD36ZH) came into effect in April and will run for a year (to 3 April 2026). PD36ZH supplements r36.2 FPR. The aim is to streamline lower-value financial cases. Applications for consent orders are excluded from the pilot. Where the parties’ combined net matrimonial assets are worth less than …
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‘It is axiomatic that a judge must consider the totality of the evidence’ – and it should be seen to be done. The LA appealed a decision refusing to make a care order in respect of H, who was almost two and the youngest of M’s five children. M had been in a relationship with …
Continue reading “Care orders – judicial analysis inadequate”
M applied for child maintenance for the parties’ seven-year-old son. She also applied under s423 Insolvency Act 1968 for various transactions by F to be set aside. The parties are Czech nationals and met in 2015. The relationship ended in 2022 at which point F reduced his financial support from £2,500 to just £400 a …
Continue reading “Financial claims – disclosure failures; maintenance”
Under the Thwaite jurisdiction, the court can set aside (but not vary) an order if: it remains executory (has yet to be implemented); there has been a material change of circumstances; and it would be inequitable not to vary the order. Unlike Barder events, the change in circumstances does not need to be ‘wholly unforeseen’. …
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If a party has transferred assets with intent to defeat (or reduce) a financial claim, the court can set aside the transaction under s37 MCA 1973. In this case, the allegedly worthless shares were set aside. The parties married in 1999 and separated in 2019. W petitioned for divorce. H was sole shareholder of a …
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When will the court order an expert witness to attend court to give oral testimony under FPR r25.9(2)? In this case, a very young baby (B) was the subject of care proceedings after being admitted to hospital with brain injuries. M said F had searched online for ‘shaken baby’ after winding B forcefully. The paternal …
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The judge described a recent case as ‘extremely difficult’ with unique and complex issues. F was seeking regular direct contact and involvement with K; an order for PR; and a declaration of parentage. All the other parties/professionals involved opposed direct contact and were united in that indirect contact could be the only outcome. The Guardian …
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The LA successfully appealed a finding that a baby’s injuries occurred during an assault by F on M, rather than a subsequent event before a second admission to hospital. The child (C), the youngest of five children, suffered severe head injuries in November 2023 at just three weeks old. The parents gave differing and changing …
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New guidance on the use of covert recordings in children proceedings has been published by the Family Justice Council. The guidance is aimed at both professionals and LIPs and comes against the background of an increase in covert recordings by private individuals in family proceedings. The FJC says there is a need for clear guidance, …
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Under s44(2) ACA 2002, the court may not grant an adoption order unless the proposed adopter has given notice to the appropriate LA. Compliance with s44(2) is essential. In this case, the adoption application was allowed to proceed even though notice had been given to the wrong LA. For the purposes of s44(2), the ‘appropriate’ …
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