The mediation voucher scheme is being expanded to help thousands more separating couples resolve disputes without having to go to court. The scheme, launched by the Government in March, provides a £500 voucher for mediation services with the aim of finding amicable solutions to disagreements. It seeks to spare eligible families the trauma of going through
There’s been a large rise in the number of married couples using ‘prenups’ over the last 20 years, according to a new survey. The survey, carried out by Savanta ComRes for the Marriage Foundation, found that one in five couples married since 2000 have some form of a pre-nuptial agreement in place. This compared to
The High Court has ruled that a judge’s decision to limit a mother’s evidence in a domestic abuse case to five allegations was wrong and should be set aside. The case involved a married couple who separated in 2019. They had two children aged 12 and three. In 2020, they each issued applications for child
Two children caught up in a parental dispute have been allowed by the High Court to choose to live with their mother in England. The children were aged 17 and 14. Their mother and father were Spanish nationals who had moved to the UK in 2004. The relationship had broken down and the father had
A husband has won his appeal against a costs order in favour of his wife during divorce proceedings. The couple had been married in 2007 and had one child. Their marriage ended in 2017 following two incidents of violence by the husband. He was acquitted in criminal proceedings, but a finding was made at a
HMCTS have confirmed that legal representatives will need to process divorce applications online using the digital service (rather than paper forms) from 13th September 2021. The exceptions to this, which should continue to be processed via the paper route, are:- • Civil Partnership• Judicial Separation• Nullity Machins Solicitors are already set up to use the
The Court of Appeal has set aside a court order that a girl should be returned to her mother rather than stay with foster parents. The girl was 18 months old and was referred to in court as X. Her mother had agreed to X being accommodated with foster parents when she was three days
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a judge was wrong to order that two children should be returned to their father, who the mother claimed had been abusive. The mother was English, and the father was American. They married in 2015 and lived in England with the mother’s daughter from a previous relationship. In
Last week Channel 4 Dispatches’ aired “Torn Apart: Family Courts Uncovered”. The programme reported on a voluntary survey as well as conversations with a number of families who have used the family court system and professionals working within it. Among the topics discussed were: Parental Alienation: This is a situation in which one parent uses
A father has been told that he cannot invoke the Hague Convention to have his children returned to Austria after their mother took them to live in England. The Family Court was told that the children were British citizens born in the UK in 2012 and 2019 and were aged nine and two. The parents