High Court: Family Division judgments, 2009

Fact-finding in family proceedings uses the single civil standard: the balance of probabilities. The court must decide whether an alleged fact occurred; a…

In ancillary-relief proceedings, the sharing principle applies to all assets available for distribution. Equality may be departed from within that principle…

In managing an outstanding inquiry after earlier financial proceedings, the court may confine the inquiry to the issue actually left unresolved and prevent a…

Where a former client seeks to restrain a solicitor’s firm from acting against him, he must show that the firm possesses confidential information which is or…

The court has power to control the retention and use of confidential information obtained irregularly for family proceedings, even without a separate civil…

Where an incapacitated adult is deprived of liberty, regular judicial review is required by Article 5. It concerns the legality of the detention, rather than…

The High Court has an inherent jurisdiction to delay or stay the making absolute of a decree nisi, but only where the respondent establishes special or…

A local authority receiving notice of an application for a special guardianship order must prepare the prescribed report, or provide it when directed by the…

In care proceedings, a parent with parental responsibility ordinarily has a right to notice, participation and representation. That right may be restricted or…

In Hague Convention proceedings, wrongful retention may arise later than the date on which a child is not returned if the initial non-return results from…

A court may make an order under section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989 where repeated private-law litigation is harming a child, even if the parents have…

The Mental Health Act 1983 has primacy over the Mental Capacity Act 2005 where the statutory criteria for detention under the 1983 Act are met. Decision-makers…

Proceedings under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 are ordinarily private and do not immediately engage the media’s Article 10 rights. An application for…

When deciding whether profoundly disabled child should remain on intensive ventilation or be moved to home ventilation, the overriding consideration is the…

In an application for a parental order following foreign surrogacy, the applicants must satisfy the statutory conditions in section 30 of the Human…

In an adoption application involving a foreign child, the child’s welfare remains the court’s paramount consideration under the Adoption and Children Act 2002.…

When authorising a statutory will for a person lacking testamentary capacity, the Court of Protection must apply the structured decision-making process in the…

An ancillary relief order may be set aside for misrepresentation, non-disclosure or mistake only where the true facts would probably have produced a…

Under Brussels II Revised, a court of the child’s former habitual residence retains jurisdiction after a non-return decision under the Hague Convention 1980…

Recognition of a judgment from another Member State under Council Regulation EC 2201/2003 may be refused on public-policy grounds only where the case presents…

A freezing order may be granted where there is a real risk that a judgment will go unsatisfied because assets may be disposed of or dealt with to frustrate…

In children proceedings, unreasonable litigation conduct may justify an adverse costs order, but it does not require one. The court must exercise a broad…

In ancillary relief proceedings, the general rule is that each party bears their own costs. The court may depart from that rule where a party’s conduct in the…

Where a child is accommodated by a local authority without being subject to a care order, the making of a residence order in favour of the person caring for…

In children proceedings, the court has a broad discretion to control the manner and extent of a hearing. The absence of ordinary res judicata and…

An incapable person may be deprived of liberty under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 where the statutory ineligibility provisions do not apply. A person…

Accredited media representatives have a prima facie right to attend private family hearings under FPR rule 10.28, but the court may exclude them where this is…

Rule 11.4(1)(c) of the Family Proceedings Rules 1991 permits a party to communicate any information relating to children proceedings where necessary to make…

Permission to take a child abroad for a temporary visit depends on whether the proposed trip is in the child’s best interests. The court must assess the risk…

In deciding whether to restrain a young person from travelling, the court must assess his best interests in the light of all relevant circumstances. The…

An interim contact order should not ordinarily be made where allegations of domestic violence, if proved, would affect whether contact should occur or what…

Disclosure is the norm in family proceedings where material may be relied on against a party. Non-disclosure is exceptional and requires a compelling case…

A vested interest under a trust may constitute a financial resource which a spouse is likely to have in the foreseeable future, even where it is not presently…

For domicile of choice, the court must find both residence in fact and an intention to reside permanently or indefinitely. The intention need not be…

Under rule 10.28 of the Family Proceedings Rules 1991, accredited media representatives are entitled to attend family proceedings held in private unless…

When assessing financial resources under section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, trust assets may be relevant even where the spouse has no absolute…

On an application to vary periodical payments, the court must apply the statutory criteria in the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, guided by fairness and the…

A ceremony with the appearance of a wedding may nevertheless be a non-marriage where it was never intended by the parties and the officiating minister to…

Jurisdiction to make or vary child-contact orders cannot be created by the parties’ consent, participation or repeated applications. Under the Family Law Act…

For the purposes of the Hague Convention, the law of the child’s habitual residence includes that state’s private international law rules. Where those rules…

In an application to restrict publication by the press, the court must balance the children’s rights under article 8 against the media’s and other parties’…

Where a decree has been pronounced under the wrong cause number and its validity is uncertain, the court may, with the parties’ consent, set aside the…

In care proceedings involving alleged non-accidental head injury, the local authority bears the burden of proving the facts on the balance of probabilities.…

Once an interim or final care order is made, responsibility for the child’s care, residence and general welfare ordinarily rests with the local authority.…

Costs ordinarily follow the event in litigation involving distinct legal entities, even where the unsuccessful party had a reasonable basis for bringing the…

For the purposes of RSC Order 46 rule 8, execution of a writ of sequestration concerns enforcement of the order for which the writ was issued, or the act of…

Parental responsibility for an unmarried father arises only through the statutory routes available under the Children Act 1989 and the Births and Deaths…

In appropriate and exceptional family cases, the court may direct electronic tagging as part of protective arrangements where it is necessary to secure the…

In ancillary-relief proceedings, cohabitation is not equated with marriage. Its impact must be assessed by reference to the overall circumstances, including…

Disclosure of documents generated in family proceedings may be permitted for wider public-policy purposes, including protecting other children and assisting…

Costs in complex family proceedings should generally be determined by a broad-brush assessment of all the circumstances. The court should consider relative…

In care proceedings, the facts required to establish the threshold under Children Act 1989, section 31(2), are proved on the balance of probabilities. The…

Article 8 ordinarily requires parents to be fully involved in public-authority planning before intervention in family life. Exceptionally, a local authority…

In care proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving the threshold facts on the balance of probabilities. The court must assess the totality of…

Under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989, capital provision will ordinarily end when a child reaches 18 or completes tertiary education, whichever is later. A…