Blog
Revocation of adoption orders: As rare as hen’s teeth?
Once a child is adopted this severs all legal ties with the birth family and establishes a new legal relationship with the adopters family. Often these adoptions are considered to be enabling the child to be a part of a forever family. However, the law allows for applications for revocation of the Adoption Order, but […]
Variation of undertakings in financial remedy orders
Undertakings in financial remedy orders are commonplace but the recent case of Birch v Birch [2015] EWCA Civ 833 explored the issue of the court’s jurisdiction to vary undertakings on application. The facts were fairly simple. The Wife obtained a transfer of the family home and gave undertakings to the court to use her best […]
A bad day at the office, or when intervention is too much intervention
The finding of fact hearing that was the subject of a recent appeal in Re G (A Child) [2015] EWCA Civ 834 puts into perspective what advocates (and indeed judges) may count as a “bad day at the office”. The facts are in many ways irrelevant, but to give a little context: this was a […]
Re H (Children) [2015] EWCA Civ 583
The case arose from public law family proceedings relating to a family of four children, whose mother was unable to care for them due to mental illness. The Father cared for all four children prior to the proceedings, however, the local authority had concerns that he was unable to cope and applied for a full […]
Successfully appealing a well-reasoned interim order
The recent Court of Appeal case of Re B (a child) (2015) is a reminder of the difficultly in successfully appealing a well-reasoned interim order. In this case the appellant father appealed against an order that his six-year-old son (B) should return to live with the respondent mother pending an investigation into B’s allegations. B’s […]
Child abduction and the PR Problem
Considering the subject matter, the 2014 Supreme Court judgment in Re K (a child) (Northern Ireland) [2014] UKSC 29 caused few ripples in the general consciousness of the family bar. What practitioners need to take away from this judgment is that they should be advising clients without PR for their children to obtain the same […]
Gay cake row
Not the latest cupcake, popcake, cronut or yumdough! But the case of Gareth Lee v Ashers Baking Co Ltd & Colin McArthur Ltd & Karen McArthur Ltd heard in the High Court of Belfast last month. This case has received a good deal of media attention. The judgment was handed down in the same week […]
Spending £1.5 million on cocaine and prostitutes isn’t wanton says Moor J
The recent case of MAP v MFP [2015] EWHC 627 (Fam) may have further restricted the availability of ‘add-back’ arguments by suggesting that the husband’s expenditure was part of his “complex character” which his spouse must accept as the downside to a personality which enabled him to make a great success of his business. Suggestions […]
Exclusive zero hours contracts banned
What’s this all about then? There is now a ban on clauses in zero hours contracts which prevent workers from holding other jobs at the same time. Legislation: Section 153 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 received Royal Assent on 26 May 2015. This section amends the Employment Rights Act 1996 by […]
Another near miss?
Well, we avoided May bank holiday standstill on our railways. However, Network Rail have announced that they will strike in June 2015 on two days as the RMT workers are left with no option, following the latest pay offer from Network Rail. The rail workers have been offered very small pay rises and no compulsory […]
Justice at its finest
I have been told to write a blog. I do not really know what a blog is so bear with me while I simply rant on for 500 words about family law in 2015. Back in the old days matrimonial finance wasn’t about dispute resolution and finding positive solutions. The emphasis was firmly on the […]
Revisiting a Final Order
Barder v Caluori [1988] remains ever the response to the often posed question as to how final is a final order. Even where there are events or discoveries post order, they of course do not always amount to a Barder event. A recent consideration of this now 27 year old authority demonstrates the accessibility of […]
