Housing benefit will be kept in place for all those living in supported housing, the Government has announced. Supported housing provides a home to some of the most vulnerable people in society, including refuges for those fleeing domestic violence. Last year the Government published proposals on new ways of funding supported housing, which it was […]
Financial remedies, Islamic marriage and domestic abuse: The last week in family law
The outgoing President of the Family Division Sir James Munby has published a circular announcing a further roll-out of the piloting of specialist Financial Remedies Courts. The Courts were first piloted in the West Midlands, centred at Birmingham. They will now be extended, in a modified form, including to the East Midlands, Cheshire and Merseyside, […]
Divorce, a new President and court closures: The last week in family law
In perhaps his last speech before retiring as President of the Family Division (see below) Sir James Munby has criticised the lack of progress towards dealing with the issue of the cross-examination of an alleged victim by an alleged perpetrator. The Government had intended to deal with the issue in the Prisons and Courts Bill, […]
Maintenance, divorce and courts: The last week in family law
The Supreme Court has allowed an appeal by a husband against a ruling that he should pay his ex-wife’s housing costs, despite the fact that those costs were provided for in an agreed divorce settlement in 2002. Under the settlement Maria Mills received a lump sum of £230,000 with which to rehouse herself, plus maintenance […]
Child support, civil partnership and the courts: The last week in family law
The Home Office has admitted that it unlawfully detained an Indian man for three months under immigration powers, separating him from his young daughter. In June 2017, after the father had served a prison sentence for wounding, the Home Office ordered him to be detained pending his deportation. This was despite a local authority recommending […]
Court fees, childhood vulnerability and FGM: The last week in family law
In a written statement to Parliament justice minister Lucy Frazer QC has said that she was laying before Parliament legislation reducing court fees for certain proceedings in the civil courts and the Court of Protection in England and Wales. As a result, claimants bringing these proceedings will pay less to access the courts. The reduction […]
Whistleblowing, civil partnerships and court statistics: The last week in family law
A whistleblowing case has raised “a novel, if not unique, set of circumstances”, according to Mr Justice Holman. The case concerned a couple who were divorced in 2013. They agreed a financial settlement, which was made into a court order in March 2014. In due course the wife became very dissatisfied with some of the […]
Forced marriage, FDACs and guidance for parents: The last week in family law
Statistics on the performance of the Child Maintenance Service between August 2013 and March 2018 have been published. The statistics show that 601,600 children were covered by Child Maintenance Service arrangements as at March, 391,300 through ‘Direct Pay’ arrangements where the parents arrange the payments between themselves, and 210,300 through ‘Collect & Pay’, whereby the […]
Adoption, financial provision for children and the Care Crisis: The last week in family law
Research obtained by the BBC and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has revealed significant variations in adoption rates across England, with children in one area at least a dozen times more likely to be put up for adoption than those in another. Southampton, Blackpool and the area around Grimsby all saw more than 1 in […]
Partner abuse, birth registration and spending on children: The last week in family law
An article examining data on partner abuse in the UK from the last three years has been published by the Office for National Statistics, with the aim of helping to develop insight into which women are most at risk of experiencing abuse by a partner or former partner. Amongst the findings in the article were […]
