Case Summaries

Appeal against a child arrangements order, whereby contact between the mother and her 18 months old child was limited to indirect contact only.

Application for substantial increase in periodical payments under Sch. 1 to the Children Act 1989 in relation to child and for an order for sums to pay, inter alia, debts and legal costs.

Joint application for the court to construe a financial remedies consent order to determine whether the wife or the estate of the late husband ought to discharge €9.2m of French tax charged against a valuable French property.

Court of Appeal judgment in financial remedy proceedings appeal allowed regarding one element in the initial order which provided for an automatic increase in the level of periodical payments payable to the wife following the date upon which the youngest child ceased privately funded secondary education.

Judgment in financial remedy proceedings in which neither spouse wanted a pension sharing order, both sought equality of asset division overall with a clean break. The High Court decided the correct approach to pension offsetting should be based upon Duxbury calculations as opposed to sums required to purchase an annuity to generate an equivalent income to a pension.

Appeal to Supreme Court by non-biological mother against decision that court did not have jurisdiction to deal with application seeking return of child removed to Pakistan. Appeal allowed.

Fact finding hearing about the cause of wrist fractures in a later deceased child concluding that the father caused the injuries.

Judgment concerning the relationship between Article 16 (court first seised) and Article 19 (lis pendens) of Brussels II Revised. Specifically, whether a court should simply ‘decline’ jurisdiction, or do so by way of ‘dismissing’ the English proceedings. The concluding paragraphs address service of foreign process within Brussels II Revised.

Judgment within long-running financial remedy proceedings, dealing with the Husband’s application for the court to reconsider the decision to grant the Wife permission to appeal.

A judgment of Bodey J considering the jurisdiction of the court to stay an application under TOLATA.

Judgment in Court of Protection proceedings concerning the possible deprivation of liberty of a young person in a residential unit.

Appeal against an order of Peter Jackson J concerning the recognition and enforcement of an order relating to custody of a nine year old child which had been made by the Romanian Court of Appeal.

Final hearing concerning the father’s application for direct and indirect contact, and the mother’s applications for prohibited steps and section 91(14) orders.

Appeal against a case management decision to include as evidence a document that the Court of Appeal had previously in a separate appeal found to be fundamentally flawed. Appeal allowed.

High Court referral to ECJ to determine whether the enforcement of European maintenance orders can be made directly to the Family Court (as opposed to via REMO).

Application by the local authority for interim care orders in respect of two children, where forced marriage protection orders had been made against the parents.