Cohabiting couples are to qualify for bereavement payments if one of them dies leaving dependent children. Previously, a surviving parent could only claim the financial support if they had been married or in a civil partnership at the time of their spouse or civil partner’s death. Under plans being drawn up by the government, Widowed
The role of a grandparent in a child’s life is unique to every family situation but many grandparents play a significant role in a child’s upbringing. Yet these relationships are often overlooked or marginalised following a breakdown of the relationship between the parents of the child. The parents can be caught in their own conflict
A mother who wrongfully removed her two sons from their home after separating from their father has been ordered to return them to Lanzarote. The two boys, referred to only as X and Y, were three years and 18 months old, respectively. The father was Italian but had lived in Lanzarote since he was seven
The introduction of no-fault divorces, which was due to take place this autumn, has been postponed until next year. The courts minister Chris Philp made the announcement in response to a parliamentary question. He said the provisions of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 must be put back because not enough progress had been
The Divorce, Dissolution, and Separation Act 2020 brings the biggest shakeup to the UK’s divorce laws in over 50 years. After years of campaigning for the implementation of no fault divorce, the act officially received Royal Assent in June 2020. Since then couples seeking a divorce, and family law practitioners have waited patiently for news
Two people who had separated after being in a relationship could still qualify as a “couple” for the purpose of applying to adopt a child. That was the decision of the Family Court in a case involving a same-sex couple who had never married or become civil partners. The court had to decide whether to
A divorcing wife has failed in her attempt to get her husband’s bankruptcy order annulled. She suspected that he had deliberately got himself into debt to avoid his financial obligations to her, but the court said there was no evidence to support such a claim. The issue arose after the wife had petitioned for divorce
A father has failed in his attempt to be awarded full custody of his son in a case made complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The father was a US citizen; the boy’s mother was British. The couple began a relationship in 2014 when the mother was working in the US. Their son was born in
A husband has failed in his attempt to use the impact of the Covid pandemic as a reason to have his divorce settlement set aside. The husband and his wife had reached a settlement on 12 March 2020, shortly before the UK ‘s first national lockdown. He was managing director of the family company, which
The Court of Appeal has reiterated that domestic abuse could mean far more than just violence and included behaviour that could affect the welfare of children even if they were not the direct victims. The issue arose in four conjoined appeals involving allegations of domestic abuse by one parent against the other. In giving judgments,