Case Summaries

Decision of Theis J concerning an international surrogacy arrangement and the legal ramifications for the child, intended parents and surrogate mother.

Applications for declarations of parentage in accordance with s.55A of the Family Law Act 1986 where children had been born following treatment at a fertility clinic but statutory requirements had not been complied with.

Case summary coming soon

Russell J allowed an appeal against a Circuit Judge’s order for direct contact made on a 16.4 Guardian’s application. Her Ladyship considered that the judge had been wrong to rely on the Guardian’s conclusions and to effectively reverse her previous decisions on what amounted to ‘flimsy evidence.’

Decision of the Upper Tribunal Administrative Appeals Chamber dismissing a non-resident parent’s appeal against the decision to refuse his variation application of the child maintenance assessment. The decision concerns the classification of a debt under regulation 12 of the Child Support (Variation) Regulations 2000 and when such a debt could be a special expense.

Appeal (the first by which the Court of Appeal has considered a second appeal from the High Court since the introduction of the new routes of appeal in private law family cases) against a decision allowing an appeal from an order rejecting the mother’s application to remove the parties’ child to live in the parents’ home region in Italy.

The first Court of Appeal judgment dealing with an application by an unmarried partner under the amended subsections 1(1)(ba) and 1(1A) of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975. The court also considers whether it has jurisdiction to transfer the property of a deceased person’s estate to a surviving partner and whether such a transfer amounts to “reasonable financial provision” for the partner’s “maintenance” within the meaning of subsections 1(1) and 1(2)(b) and sections 2 and 3 of the 1975 Act.

Appeal in abduction case, concerning a 21 months old child, dealing with three central issues: (1) the child’s habitual residence, (2) whether or not his father had subsequently acquiesced, and (3) whether the circumstances were sufficient to engage Article 13(b) of the Convention.

Judgment in an appeal against the decision to return a 15-month-old boy, Z, to America in proceedings under the Hague Child Abduction Convention. The parents of Z were married and had lived together in America since 2008.

Court of Appeal judgment overturning decision of Mr Justice Peter Jackson in J v B (Ultra-Orthodox Judaism: Transgender) [2017] EWFC 4, [2017] WLR(D) 142, in which he refused direct contact and ordered indirect contact only between a transgender father and her five children from an Ultra-Orthodox-Jewish community.

Applications by mother in respect of two children whose father is believed to live in Iran by which she sought (i) permission for them to be known by new forenames and surnames and (ii) a prohibited steps order restricting the extent to which the father would be able to exercise his parental responsibility for the children.

Appeal by husband against the court’s jurisdiction to make a global maintenance order in favour of the wife and children. Appeal dismissed.

Appeal by Guardian against placement order.

Judgment of Cobb J in an “unusual” financial remedies case in which the Wife did not have capacity to litigate and the Husband had failed to consistently engage with the Court proceedings.

Judgment of Roberts J after a 10-day fact-finding hearing, making adverse findings of non-accidental injury against a father. The original fact-finding hearing had exonerated the father, but this had been overturned by the Court of Appeal and remitted for a rehearing.

Application concerning the ambit of a reporting restriction applied for by the husband to regulate the reporting of the financial remedy proceedings.