The government is to oblige courts and councils to always pursue adoption when it is in a child’s best interest. Ministers say they will change legislation as soon as possible to “make crystal clear that councils and courts must place children with the person best able to care for them right up until their 18th
The government has confirmed that more than 2,000 divorce cases may have been voided due to an error on the self-assessment form on the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) website. The error involves Form E, which records the financial details of divorcing couples. The software running the form didn’t take all liabilities into account and so
On Friday 29th January 2016, the High Court dismissed a heterosexual couple’s application for judicial review of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 stating that the legislation did not discriminate between heterosexual and homosexual couples. Case information Rebecca Steinfield and her partner of 5 years, Charles Keiden argued that heterosexual couples, like same sex couples, should
Thousands of divorce settlements may have to be recalculated due to an error on a form on the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) website. The error involves Form E, which is shown on the website and is used to record the financial details of divorcing couples including their assets and liabilities. It’s been discovered that the
A court has refused to return an abducted child to his mother even though he was taken illegally by his father. The court accepted that it was against the boy’s interests to be sent back to his mother and that he had made it clear that he did not want to live with her because
What is mediation? When couples separate, emotions can often hinder difficult issues being discussed. Mediation is a process that is designed to help people reach an early agreement, with the minimum of cost, delay and confrontation. It can ease the pain of a family breakdown or separation, encourages people to be open and discuss
A court has refused to return an abducted child to his mother even though he was taken illegally by his father. The court accepted that it was against the boy’s interests to be sent back to his mother and that he had made it clear that he did not want to live with her because
Children want more say in what happens to them when their parents get divorced, according to research carried out for the family law group, Resolution. The survey also revealed that 82% said they would prefer that their parents separated if they were unhappy rather than stay together. Resolution quotes one young person as saying: “Don’t
At present the divorce process in England and Wales is lengthy, costly and unnecessarily bureaucratic. This article focuses in particular on the need for a no fault divorce. There is currently only one ground for divorce – that the marriage has broken down ‘irretrievably’. This can only be demonstrated by proving one of the facts
A wife has lost her appeal against a divorce settlement in which she received a smaller share of the matrimonial assets than her husband. The case involved a couple who had been married for 14 years and had a 10-year-old daughter. Shortly after the birth, the wife developed mental health problems and was diagnosed with