Domestic Abuse Bill receives Royal Assent The government’s Domestic Abuse Bill, which will provide new protections for victims of abuse, has received the Royal Assent and is therefore now an Act of Parliament. For the first time in history there will be a wide-ranging legal definition of domestic abuse which incorporates a range of abuses beyond […]

Son ordered to pay mother £75m in record divorce case The High Court in London has ordered the son of a Russian oligarch to pay some £75 million to his mother, after the court found that his father had transferred money to him to avoid paying a divorce award. In 2016 the High Court awarded […]

Former President criticises lawyers not complying with rules The former President of the Family Division Sir James Munby has severely criticised lawyers for failing to comply with rules in lengthy family court cases. Sir James retired in 2018 but still sits as a judge on certain cases. At the end of a recent judgment he […]

Prince Family Law are pleased to announce the appointment of  Adam Kidd who joins our highly experienced Sheffield Team as part of our planned and ongoing expansion.    Adam qualified as a solicitor in 2016 and since that date has specialised exclusively in family law with a particular emphasis on marital finance,  international relocation and child […]

Latest Child Maintenance Service statistics The Department for Work and Pensions has published its latest quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service (‘CMS’), for the quarter to December 2020. The CMS deals with two types of child maintenance arrangements: Direct Pay and the Collect & Pay service. Direct Pay is where the CMS calculates the […]

Parents without legal aid lose fight to keep child on life support The High Court has granted an application by a hospital trust for a declaration that it is in best interests of 9 month old brain-damaged child to have life-sustaining treatment withdrawn. The child was born last June without any heart rate, and other […]

Children placed in foster care following concerns over their weight Two children, aged 16 and 13, have been removed from their parents’ care, after social services raised concerns that they were seriously overweight. Social services in West Sussex had tried to avoid removing the children by putting together a weight loss plan, including providing them […]

Investigation into rise in public law cases published The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has welcomed and endorsed the publication of a report into the increase in public law children cases (i.e. children cases involving social services) by the President’s Public Law Working Group (‘PLWG’). The report made 47 recommendations, aimed at […]

Financial Remedies Courts roll-out completed The President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane has announced that the roll-out of the new specialist Financial Remedies Courts (‘FRCs’) has been completed across England and Wales. The courts were first proposed in 2016, after which a pilot scheme was set up to test them out. The pilot […]

Husband fails in claim for rent from wife A husband who claimed £600,000 rent from his former wife has had his case dismissed by the Court of Appeal. The couple had lived in a five bedroomed house in Kensington, which was owned by the husband. The marriage broke down and in 2014 the husband moved […]