Law Updates

Thousands of unmarried couples are being misled by the myth of common law marriage.

The Court of Appeal in MK v CK (2011) was very clear on this point.

Cohabiting couples are each entitled to possession of their co-owned property providing that the purpose of the joint property was to provide a home for them both.

If you are buying a home with your loved one or you are moving in with your partner you should, at the very least, have a Trust Deed drawn up, and possibly a Living Together Agreement too.

As the recession continues to bite, middle income families are finding that clean break divorces are very difficult to achieve.

Remarriage automatically terminates spousal maintenance obligations. However, cohabitation with a new partner does not. So how can one determine if one’s former spouse is cohabiting with another person or not?

There are thousands of parents in this country who have had their children abducted to Japan. They have had to battle with the Japanese authorities, and the legal system, for many years in order to secure the safe return of their children.

When the parent with a Residence Order in favour of the children wishes to remove the children of the family out of the jurisdiction of England and Wales, he or she must first seek the non-resident parent’s consent or, in the absence of such consent, must obtain permission from the court.

From 6th April 2011 any spouse who wishes to divorce, and then either issue court proceedings to ask a Judge to deal with the issue of division of family assets, or make an application for an order in respect to the children, should first contact a family mediator to attend an information meeting about family mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.

As of 1 April 2011, judges will no longer be wearing their usual black robes!

Pre –nuptial agreements are not just for the wealthy.  They are just as relevant and useful to anyone who is thinking of getting married so it is not surprising that family solicitors across the country are seeing a growing number of couples signing pre-nuptial agreements as a way of minimising uncertainty in the event of divorce.

The Government has proposed that the current child maintenance system is to be changed in order to reduce conflict between parents who have separated or divorced and to reduce the cost of running the system which is currently about £460 million a year.

In the recent case of Re H (2010) the court was asked to deal with exactly this issue.

Financial uncertainty is one of the most stressful elements of any divorce, and a pre – nuptial agreement can be a useful tool for couples wishing to reduce this uncertainty.

The current law in relation to division of assets between unmarried couples on the breakdown of their relationship is unsatisfactory.

In a recent survey conducted in the United States, divorce lawyers reported an increase in pre-nuptial agreements during the last five years.

The Observer ran an article on 5 September 2010 stating that more than 40% of domestic violence victims are male.

Court fees have increased by almost 15% from 1st September 2010 and may increase even more next year.

One of the most important steps in divorce proceedings, when dealing with the division of matrimonial assets, is financial disclosure.

Many people simply cannot afford to pay for solicitors and barristers to attend court on their behalf and often have to attend court in person.

It has been widely reported in the national press that children in Britain are amongst the unhealthiest and unhappiest in the developing world.

The Supreme Court, in the case of Abgaje, has clarified the circumstances in which a court order for financial provision can be made (under Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984) where a prior court order has already been made by a foreign court.

After the 1st of April 2009 the chances of setting aside a divorce settlement (court order) because of the dramatic change in the economy are very slim.

New rules regarding press access to family law courts came into force on 27th April 2009 following a series of government consultations.

With the current difficult economic climate impacting on the property market, many divorcing couples are finding it increasingly difficult to bring the marriage to an end.

On 17th December 2008, the Privy Council ruled that the terms of pre-nuptial agreements were neither binding nor enforceable.