A post-election poll by the Children’s Charities Coalition shows 78% of people would support the Government introducing a new parliamentary Bill to eradicate child poverty. There are currently 4.3 million children living in poverty, which relates to a range of issues that young people face including mental health and wellbeing, education, and physical health. Families from the poorest neighbourhoods are 14 times more likely to be referred to children’s social care than those from the richest areas. The Children’s Charities Coalition - Action for Children, Barnardo’s, The Children’s Society, Na ..read more

The Government has announced plans to temporarily reduce the point at which prisoners are automatically released from 50% to 40% of their sentence, in response to the overcrowding crisis. This will exclude anyone convicted for a sexual offence, stalking, controlling and coercive behaviour, non-fatal strangulation, breaches of restraining or non-molestation orders, or who received a sentence of over 4 years for a violent crime. The exclusion will also cover those currently required at conviction to spend at least two-thirds of their sentence behind bars. Responding to the announcement, the Dome ..read more

Nick Power, Barrister Josephine Garvey, Barrister An analysis of the court's approach to the instruction of single joint experts and second experts pursuant to Daniels v Walker within financial remedy proceedings in light of GA v EL and BR v BR.     The full article has published in the July issue of Family Law.  Find out more or request a free 1-week trial of Family Law journal. Please quote: 100482                 ..read more

Mary Welstead, Visiting Professor in Family law University of Buckingham   In 2023, on appeal, Knowles J granted a young woman, who was both a US national and resident, a Forced Marriage Protection Order (‘FMPO’) under the Family Law Act 1996. The woman had visited relations in Pakistan in 2014 where she was forced to marry her British cousin. Following the marriage, the woman was raped by her cousin for one week before he departed for the UK. The woman returned to the US where she discovered that she was pregnant. Her cousin harassed her in emails, telephone calls and soci ..read more

Mark Pawlowski, Barrister and Professor Emeritus of Property Law, School of Law, University of Greenwich It is accepted as established law that, where the parties execute a trust expressly declaring their respective beneficial interests in property, this will be conclusive of the parties’ common intention as at the time of the declaration in the absence of fraud, misrepresentation, undue influence or mistake permitting a party to rescind or rectify the trust. Does this principle, however, rule out the possibility of an informal variation of the trust based on later circumstances giving r ..read more

Dr Mary Baginsky, King’s College London Celestine Greenwood, Barrister, Exchange Chambers Research on The role of adult social care for parents with learning disabilities when a child is no longer in their care has raised important questions for practice. It was evident soon into the project that it would be necessary to look at what was happening earlier on. After extensive discussions across social care, law, health and advocacy and in-depth case studies working with all professionals in contact with parents with a learning disability, as well as parents, it became evident that in too many ..read more

Liam Kelly, Deans Court Chambers This summary is essential reading for family law practitioners, providing an overview of the Home Office Guidance on Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) published in March 2024. The Guidance is timely, preceding a Pilot Scheme set to commence in Greater Manchester and three London boroughs—Croydon, Sutton, and Bromley—in spring 2024. This two-year Pilot marks a significant shift in protective measures for domestic abuse victims. DAPOs differ markedly from existing protective orders such as Non-Molestation Orders and Occupation Orders. It is crucial for pra ..read more

Giorgia Sessi, Parklane Plowden Chambers, Leeds This article offers a summary of the recently reported authorities dealing with modest asset cases, both first instance and appellate decisions, and explores some common threads and, in particular, seeks to highlight the difficulties faced by judges and practitioners in cases where the asset base is limited and the needs of two households are to be met. The article also looks at the approach taken in respect of costs in cases where one party fails to negotiate reasonably on an open basis and some constructive solutions adopted in the reported aut ..read more

Claire Wood, Kingsley Napley (London) Frances Goldsmith, Libra Avocats (Paris)   In this article, Claire Wood (England) and Frances Goldsmith (France) consider the changes made to the Civil Partnership Act in 2019 which mean that certain overseas relationships, including the French Pacte Civil de Solidarité (PACS), are now recognised under English law as a civil partnership.  This article explains what a PACS is and the effect under French law on the civil status of the partners including property and financial consequences.  The legal regime in France is compared with the Engli ..read more

Adiba Bassam, 36 Family Isobel Rarok, Edwards Family Law This article considers the legal principles and recent authorities relating to parental responsibility, in particular parental responsibility of unmarried fathers and the circumstances in which this can be revoked. There is a focus on the recent case of Re A [2023] EWHC 3534 (Fam) in which the authors acted for the mother. Taking into account the implications of the recent decisions in this area of law, whether there appears to be a change in judicial opinion and proposals for change generally, we consider whether further guidance ..read more