Blogs/Articles

A landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in the case of Prest v Petrodel, which was about financial remedies in divorce, has upheld the appeal of the estranged wife.

New research from Cafcass, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, has found that the instruction of expert witnesses in cases in family courts involving care applications is decreasing.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recently published data and an analysis on the state of the country’s National Well-being.

Almost ten new child abduction and international custody cases a week are being dealt with by the Foreign Office, according to newly released Government figures.

New national standards to raise the quality of experts used in family courts and get rid of time-consuming evidence which adds little value in helping judges reach a decision have been announced by the Government.

One in ten adults in Britain are in a relationship but not living with their partner - and most of those are incorrectly counted as single in official statistics, according to recently published research.

The government has published ‘Adoption passport: a support guide for adopters’, which sets out the support services adopters can expect from local authorities.

The Office of the Head of International Family Justice for England and Wales (the Office) has published its Annual Report for 2012.

Children’s charity the NSPCC is calling for a new approach to child abuse, focusing more on prevention as well as protection. It says this should help close the gap between the number of children who are abused or neglected at home, and the number who are actually protected by local authorities.

The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) has continued to see high levels of private law cases in March, with 4,001 new applications passed to Cafcass - a 1% increase on March 2012 levels.

Family law practitioners have reiterated concerns that vulnerable people will be left without legal advice and support during divorce after cuts to legal aid came into force on 1st April.

The Ministry of Justice has published statistics on the type and volume of cases that were received and processed through the court system of England and Wales in the fourth quarter of 2012 (October to December).

A recent members’ survey by Nagalro has found that the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is making less use of experienced Children’s Guardian practitioners.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has recently released a list of divorce hotspots in England and Wales.

Recent research from the Law School at Cardiff University has uncovered threats to the effectiveness of the existing system to deal with international child abduction to England and Wales.

The Government’s plan to introduce a legal presumption of shared parenting has proved to be very controversial.

A recent report from the House of Lords Committee on Adoption Legislation has said that adoptive parents should receive more support to help them care for vulnerable children.

The Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships (TCCR) and Family Action are launching an innovative new “More than Mothering” programme to support couples as they resolve relationship issues that can affect their ability to parent their children effectively.

Shared parenting charity, Families Need Fathers, has reported that the Government has published its response to the proposals on enforcing court-ordered child arrangements contained in the ‘Co-operative parenting following family separation’ consultation, which ran from 13th June – 5th September 2012.

The past twelve months have seen the Government place great emphasis on improving adoption processes in England for both children and potential adopters.