Practitioners should note the Civil Partnership (Registration and Records) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 are now in force, and amend earlier regulations as far as registration and prescribed forms are concerned. Certified copies of entries on the civil partnership register may now be issued at a fee to anyone who provides the Registrar General or registration authority …
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The online divorce system can now accommodate represented respondents’ solicitors, who will be able to respond to a divorce on behalf of clients through the online system. A completely new respondents’ solicitor guide has been launched by HMTCS as part of its raft of guidance around the online divorce service. It explains how the case …
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A new procedure introduces a provision enabling the communication of forced marriage and female genital mutilation protection orders (FMPO or FGMPO) to the police. The procedure is set out in a new pilot Practice Direction 36W under which the court must send notification of the existence of a FMPO or FGMPO, when sealed by the …
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Practitioners should note updates to Practice Directions 30A, 36U and 41B which came into force on 3, 24 and 31 May 2021 (respectively), as follows: 30A: in relation to the change of route of appeal from decisions of DJs in the Principal Registry of the Family Division in financial remedy proceedings. 36U: this modifies existing …
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The balancing exercise between the right to privacy and the right to freedom of expression fell in favour of no further publication of the substantive judgment in financial remedies proceedings. This was the recent decision in a high-profile case in which Lady Barclay (LB) unsuccessfully sought permission to secure publication of that ruling – and …
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A sought a declaration of non-recognition of a Muslim marriage and a petition for nullity, arguing that she did not have the capacity to marry. Relevant was the fact that a serious car accident in 1995 at age six had seriously impacted her mental health and cognitive function. A deputy had been appointed by the …
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An order for contact between F and his daughter (G) would expose G to an ‘unmanageable’ risk of sexual and emotional harm. In this case, M successfully asked the court to terminate F’s PR under s4(2A) CA 1989 and to change G’s surname. The hearing proceeded in F’s absence. The parents separated in 2014, two …
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In what circumstances will the court allow an application under its inherent jurisdiction for the revocation of a lawfully made adoption order? Here, the children (now 18 and 16) were adopted following care proceedings in 2010, but since 2018, they had been living with their biological mother’s family. All parties agreed that the adoption order …
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The practice of legally exact pleading when third-party issues in financial remedy cases arise minimises the risk of the family court unfairly interfering with the rights of third parties. So say the authors of this detailed article examining the issue of third-party assets and their bearing on the court’s assessment of resources in financial remedy …
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Does the pandemic amount to a Barder event? That’s been the question on many a family lawyer’s lips for some time now, and they now have an answer – though whether it could be superseded by a ruling of another court remains to be seen. The family court said that, in principle, Covid-19 is a …
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