News
On 5 December 2005, the Civil Partnership Act came into force, enabling same-sex couples to legally register their relationship – with similar rights and obligations to that of marriage. Subsequently,… Read more →
News
On 29 November 2019, the Office for National Statistics published their statistical bulletin in relation to divorces in England and Wales in 2018. In summary, some of the main findings… Read more →
Bulletins
Upon divorce (or upon the dissolution of a civil partnership) the parties have potential financial claims against one another, namely for example, for property, lump sums, maintenance and pensions. In… Read more →
Bulletins
On 11 October 2019, the Office for National Statistics published their statistical bulletin in relation to Civil Partnerships in England and Wales in 2018. In summary, some of the findings… Read more →
Bulletins
Previously, (https://wedlakebell.com/divorce-dissolution-and-separation-bill-second-reading-at-the-house-of-commons-on-25-june-2019/) I explained that currently, the Law in England and Wales for a divorce only allows “no fault” to be attributed to either party after a minimum period of… Read more →
Bulletins
The Institute of Family Law Arbitrators explain that “Arbitration is a form of dispute resolution which takes place outside a formal court room. The parties enter into an agreement under… Read more →
Bulletins
Cafcass is the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service and they represent children in family court cases in England and “put children’s needs, wishes and feelings first, making… Read more →
Bulletins
When dealing with child maintenance, parents can arrange this directly (a family based arrangement), pay through the Child Maintenance Service (“CMS”) (Collect & Pay) or alternatively, contact the CMS for… Read more →
Bulletins
From 6 August 2018, certain matrimonial consent Orders could be filed online, as part of a pilot scheme. Following that time, HMCTS have been working with solicitors and other interested… Read more →
Bulletins
Currently, in divorce proceedings applications for financial remedy are made to the Court on paper by way of a document known as a Form A. Upon receipt of the Form… Read more →
News
On 4 April 2019, Sir James Munby (sitting as a Judge of the High Court), heard an application by the Queen’s Proctor for the setting aside of decree nisis (the… Read more →
News
Currently, the Law in England and Wales for a divorce only allows “no fault” to be attributed to either party after a minimum period of two years since separation (the… Read more →
News
On 16 August 2018, the Office for National Statistics published their statistical bulletin in relation to Civil Partnerships in England and Wales in 2017. In summary, some of the findings… Read more →
I previously wrote that on 8 August 2017, the husband in the case of Mills v Mills was granted permission to appeal on the ground of “whether, provision having already… Read more →
News
Previously I wrote about the case of Mills v Mills and had said that permission to appeal to the Supreme Court had been granted. The appeal relates to “whether, provision having… Read more →
News
On Monday 2nd July 2018, Charmaine Hast and Sarah Campbell attended Dixon Wilson’s offices for the 2018 eprivateclient Top Family Law Firms awards evening, sponsored by Close Brothers. eprivateclient explain… Read more →
News
The Child Maintenance Service I have previously explained that the Child Maintenance Service (“CMS”) was introduced in 2012 to deal with child maintenance, which was at that time dealt with… Read more →
News
On 24 May 2018, the Upper Tribunal Judge gave their decision in respect of the father’s appeal concerning the decision of the First-tier Tribunal (child maintenance). This is where the… Read more →
News
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (“HMCTS”) had previously published how they proposed that the Courts (in England and Wales) should work differently moving forwards. In order to test the… Read more →
News
Part 1 (1) of the above Act states that “A civil partnership is a relationship between two people of the same sex (“civil partners”)…” and Part 2 (3) deals with… Read more →
Campaign
In relation to a divorce, currently the Law in England and Wales only allows “no fault” to be attributed to either party after a minimum period of two years since… Read more →
Bulletins
Previously, I wrote about the case of Owens v Owens which is a case where the wife appealed against the dismissal of her divorce petition, after her husband, unusually, defended the divorce.… Read more →
News
Associate in our Family & Divorce team, Sarah Campbell, has written an article on the things to consider before divorcing for YourMoney.com. Sarah writes “It isn’t unusual for individuals to… Read more →
News
Previously (on 29 December 2017), I wrote about the forthcoming changes to the eligibility requirements for individuals to obtain legal aid (public funding) in relation to family law matters and… Read more →
News
The Ministry of Justice published its Family Court Statistics Quarterly, England and Wales, July to September 2017, on 14 December 2017. The statistics demonstrated that when compared to July to… Read more →
News
Recently Aviva have announced the findings from their research in connection with individuals’ experiences of divorce. Back in 2014, at the time of their previous survey, they had found that… Read more →
News
In November 2017 the announcement of the Chancellor’s Budget was no doubt welcomed by some. Currently, indeed, since April 2016, due to Schedule 4ZA of the Finance Act 2003, individuals… Read more →
News
In November 2017, a CAFCASS study regarding private law cases that returned to Court was published. The authors explain that “it was undertaken within the context of a 20% rise… Read more →
News
On 14 December 2017, the 13th Programme of Law Reform Projects was launched. By way of background, the Law Commission explain that “Under the Law Commissions Act 1965 the Law… Read more →
Bulletins
On 1 December 2017, Sir James Mumby, President of the Family Division published the “President’s Circular: Financial Remedies Courts”. Within that circular, it was confirmed that Financial Remedies Courts… Read more →
Bulletins
The Child Maintenance (Assessment of Parents’ Income) Bill 2017-19 had its first reading in the House of Commons on 28 November 2017. It is a private member’s Bill with its… Read more →
News
On 3 November 2017, CAFCASS reported their latest figures for October 2017 in respect of the demand for CAFCASS in private law children cases. The report showed an increase in… Read more →
Bulletins
Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunal Services (HMCTS) have recently published how they propose that the Courts (in England and Wales) should work differently moving forwards. In order to test the… Read more →
Bulletins
The Office for National Statistics (which produces statistics for the UK) released its statistical bulletin on 18 October 2017 in relation to divorces in England and Wales in 2016. Some… Read more →
Bulletins
The Family Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2017 – naming the co-respondent in the application for a divorce Previously I wrote about the Family Procedure (Amendment No.2) Rules 2017 that… Read more →
Bulletins
On 30 August 2017, the Department for Work and Pensions published statistics in relation to the Child Support Agency arrears transitioned to the Child Maintenance Service system. The publication explains… Read more →
Bulletins
On 8 August 2017, the husband in the case of Mills v Mills was granted permission to appeal on the ground of “whether, provision having already been made for the… Read more →
Bulletins
A Judgment that was published at the end of June this year, dealt with the issue of what impact bad behaviour (conduct) could have upon a financial settlement upon divorce.… Read more →
Bulletins
Background/Statistics This is where a couple are living together (either with or without children) and they are not married or in a civil partnership. According to the Office for National… Read more →
Bulletins
As I have written about previously, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), was introduced in 2012 to deal with child maintenance, which was at that time dealt with by the Child… Read more →
Bulletins
The Child Poverty Action Group (who research poverty in the UK, as well as providing information, advice and training) has recently released its report “The Cost of a Child in… Read more →
Bulletins
The Court of Appeal has recently dismissed a wife’s appeal in relation to the settlement that she was awarded upon divorce. By way of background, the husband and wife, Mr… Read more →
Bulletins
The government has recently published its “Providing a cross-border civil judicial cooperation framework – a future partnership” paper. The focus is on the UK leaving the EU and it sets… Read more →
Bulletins
On 29 June 2017, a Judgment was given in the case of Tobias v Tobias ([2017] EWFC 46) which gave guidance in relation to freezing injunctions, without notice orders and… Read more →
Bulletins
One of the changes is that it is only until 4 September 2017 that a Divorce/Dissolution Petition (or an Answer to those Petitions) do not require a Statement of Truth… Read more →
Bulletins
Earlier this year, in the case of Owens v Owens, the wife appealed against the dismissal of her divorce petition, after her husband, unusually, defended the divorce. The wife’s divorce petition was based… Read more →
Bulletins
I previously wrote about the case of Green v Adams, which concerned a financial claim by a mother, against the father, for financial provision for their son. Part of the… Read more →
Bulletins
As from yesterday (19 June 2017), divorce proceedings across the country are being administratively “delinked” from financial remedy proceedings. The background to this is that back in 2015, administration changes… Read more →
Bulletins
Financial settlement upon divorce can sometimes vary enormously from one country to another. This can result in a husband and wife both “racing” to start proceedings in one country over… Read more →
Bulletins
The Relationships Alliance has released its “Relationships Alliance Manifesto 2017”. The Relationships Alliance is made up of four charities namely Relate, OnePlusOne, Tavistock Relationships and Marriage Care. They explained that… Read more →
Bulletins
The Judgment in the above case has recently been released and serves as a reminder of how child maintenance is dealt with differently through the Child Maintenance Service compared to… Read more →
Bulletins
On 2 May 2017 the House of Commons Work & Pensions Committee (who “examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Office of the Department for Work & Pensions and… Read more →