Family

  • Compensation Culture: The latest McFarlane v McFarlane

    Margaret Hatwood, Partner
    Family Law Journal - January 2010
    In Miller v Miller; McFarlane v McFarlane described as the paradigm case for an award of compensation, the House of Lords said that not only did the court have to have regard to the s 25 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) criteria but to three additional strands namely needs, compensation and sharing...

  • Divorce - Forum Shopping

    Kim Beatson and Camilla Fusco, Partners

    Everyone who works with international clients knows that relocating abroad can be a very unsettling experience. The family faces a big task of finding a new home, getting it furnished, settling the children in a new school, coping with a new culture and adjusting to new jobs...

  • Ancillary Relief and the Public/Private Divide

    Somaya Ouazzani
    Family Law Journal - September 2009
    Ancillary relief has for many years seen the courts adjusting the private financial lives of family members: however, it has now begun to look to the public side of that ideological divide...

  • Family Courts Open their Doors

    Victoria Jones, Family Department
    On 27 April 2009 the law changed allowing the media access to family hearings for the first time. Other court rooms have long been open to the press but family courts have always been the exception...

  • Holmes-Moorhouse - The Housing Act and Children Act collide

    Patricia Carr, Solicitor
    This article analyses the decision in the Holmes-Moorhouse case and discusses what advisors for applicants and local authorities should do in the light of the decision...

  • Accurate Costs Estimates: the Reynolds case

    Shelley Cumbers, Solicitor
    Family Law Journal -  January 2009
    In the Queen's Bench Division case Reynolds v Stone Rowe Brewer (A Firm) [2008] EWHC 497, Tugendhat J addressed not only the importance of providing accurate costs estimates for clients from the outset...

  • Haines v Hill: The Division of the Spoils

    Margaret Hatwood
    Family Law Journal - February 2008
    This article looks at the impact of Hill v Haines on financial provision orders, and considers the long-term effects of the case...

  • Funding Ancillary Relief Cases: The New Costs Rules

    Margaret Hatwood
    Family Law Journal - April 2007
    This article looks at the new rules, which apply to those cases where petitions were issued after 3 April 2006...

  • NA v MA: When is an Agreement Not an Agreement?

    Margaret Hatwood
    Family Law Journal - November 2007
    This article aims to review the movement towards a situation where agreements are
    increasingly regarded as binding and hopes to draw practitioners’ attention to possible danger areas...

  • Claiming Benefits and the Civil Partnership Act

    The Civil Partnership Act brings important changes affecting same-sex couples who claim income-related benefits, regardless of whether the couple decide to form a civil partnership. Prior to the Act, people in same sex partnerships were treated as...

  • The Benefits of Civil Partnership

    The Civil Partnership Act brings important changes affecting same-sex couples who claim income-related benefits, regardless of whether the couple decide to form a civil partnership. Prior to the Act, people in same sex partnerships were treated as...

  • Civil Rights and Child Support

    Debra Mo, Partner
    Kehoe represented a valiant attempt to influence the workings of the Child Support Agency, says Debra Mo, but was this worthy case doomed to failure and what means of redress remain?

  • Special Guardianship Orders: A Guide

    Anna Johnstone, Trainee Solicitor
    The new special guardianship provisions, provided for in the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (the Act), came into force on 30 December 2005. Section 115 of the Act introduces a new legal status for non parents who are or wish to care for children in a long term, secure placement...

  • Beneath the Parlour Divorce Hype

    Kim Beatson, Partner   Arsenal footballer Ray Parlour has been ordered to pay his ex-wife Karen a third of his future earnings in a landmark divorce settlement, which has sparked a national debate about marriage. A lawyer unpacks the hype - and...

  • For a child - friendly Christmas go easy on the brussels

    Kim Beatson, Partner One serving of sprouts at Christmas is more than enough for any child. That's the advice from campaigning family law group Resolution, who warn that live-apart couples need to plan with extra special care to make Christmas a great time...

  • Law Lords Uphold Ruling Rejecting Child Support as a Civil Right

    The House of Lords has ruled that a resident parent has no right to enforce a claim for child maintenance against an absent parent if the Child Support Agency fails to ensure payment. Kim Beatson, Chair of the family lawyers association Resolution, tells...

  • Equitable Accounting

    Kim Beatson, Partner and Shelley Turrell, Trainee Solicitor Your TOLATA (Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996) proceedings have almost reached conclusion. The Judge has considered whether the Applicant has acted to his detriment, made direct...

  • An Overview of the Land Registry

    Rebecca Jones and Nicholas Loannou, Solicitors   Getting to grips with the Land Registry and understanding its procedure is a very important part of family law. In order to get the most from the Land Registry and the new rules that have come into...

  • Parents' Employment Rights

    Thomas Duggins, Trainee Solicitor AN OVERVIEW OF THE STATUTORY RIGHTS OF PARENTS IN THE UK There were almost 670,000 children born in the UK in 2006, the vast majority of which were born into families with at least one parent in full time employment....

  • Home Share Breakdown

    Debra Mo, Partner   Cohabitees (couples who live together who are not married) are a reflection of the diverse family trends that have evolved over the last few decades. Divorce rates have increased, with a corresponding decrease in the number of...

  • How to Make the Divorce Process Less Painful

    Kim Beatson, Partner   I went to a wedding recently where the bride’s parents (each with their new partners) sat on opposite sides of the aisle. The wedding reception was a tense affair. Both the bride’s father and stepfather made speeches...

  • Civil Partnership Act 2004 - Gay Marriage

    Kim Beatson, Partner The introduction of the Civil Partnership Act on 5 December 2005, offers to same-sex couples the opportunity of registering their relationship and thereby obtaining rights and obligations broadly equivalent to those of married couples....

  • Gender Defending

    Rebecca Jones, Solicitor Gender Recognition Act 2004: Practical Points for Family Lawyers The Gender Recognition Act 2004 provides for transsexual people to make an application to the Gender Recognition Panel for a gender recognition certificate which...

  • Civil Partnership Act 2004: Housing Related Rights for Gay and Lesbian Couples

    Yannis Constantine, Trainee Solicitor, Anthony Gold   Introduction On 05 December 2006, it will be one year since the introduction of the Civil Partnership Act (‘CPA’) 2004. The CPA is a landmark piece of legislation that removes...

  • Gender Recognition Act 2004

    Rebecca Jones, Solicitor The Gender Recognition Act 2004 received royal assent on the 2 July 2004. Prior to this, the estimated 5,000 transsexuals that live in this country have been in a state of limbo being afforded no legal status by the government to...
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Family Law