High Court: Family Division judgments, 2012

In determining family jurisdiction and welfare issues, the court must assess disputed evidence in its full factual and relational context. Inaccuracies or lies…

When parents disagree about serious medical treatment for a child, the court must determine the child’s best interests. It must balance the treatment’s…

Applications for reporting restriction orders require an intense, parallel analysis of the competing rights under Articles 8 and 10 of the ECHR. Neither right…

A claim to privilege does not generally prevent the court from requiring a sufficiently described list of documents. Documents may be listed by category where…

An application under section 5 of the Debtors Act 1869 is quasi-penal. The applicant must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the respondent has had the means…

In determining whether prospective carers knowingly participated in the fraudulent removal of a child, the court must assess the evidence as a whole. The…

Without notice relief, particularly a Tipstaff order, requires caution, rigorous scrutiny, full and fair disclosure, properly sourced evidence, prompt…

The court has a discretion to join a police force as a party to care proceedings, but joinder will be rare and exceptional. It may be appropriate where joinder…

Habitual residence is a question of fact requiring an assessment of all the circumstances. Events, relationships, intentions, feelings, and legal rights and…

Habitual residence is a question of fact requiring an overall assessment of all relevant circumstances. Events, feelings, relationships, intentions and legal…

An interim Hemain injunction restraining foreign proceedings or arbitration is exceptional and must be granted cautiously. The applicant must show that the…

Jurisdiction in care proceedings under Council Regulation 2201/2003 Brussels II Revised (BIIR) ordinarily lies with the Member State of the child’s habitual…

Habitual residence is a question of fact, assessed according to the ordinary meaning of the words. It may arise from residence for a settled purpose even where…

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

In a fact-finding hearing concerning suspected inflicted injury to an infant, the local authority bears the burden of proving the relevant facts on the balance…

A default judgment establishes only those facts which were necessary to the judgment’s legal foundation. A fact is not issue-estopped merely because it appears…

In care proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving the alleged facts on the balance of probabilities. The court must not base findings on…

Recognition of a non-convention foreign adoption requires consideration of three questions: whether the order was lawfully obtained, whether the foreign…

In an application for the summary return of children under Article 13 of the Hague Convention, the court must assess the alleged risk before deciding whether…

The court retains a statutory discretion to stay properly constituted English matrimonial proceedings in favour of proceedings in a non-Convention…

Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the court must determine objectively what is in a person’s best interests by weighing all relevant circumstances. The…

A request by a gender recognition panel for further evidence or information is a procedural step towards determining an application, not a rejection of it. A…

Under Council Regulation EC 2201 of 2003, jurisdiction in parental-responsibility proceedings normally depends on the child’s habitual residence when the court…

In an application for parental orders following an international surrogacy, the court may dispense with the surrogate’s agreement where she cannot be found…

Family proceedings are concerned with resolving disputes about the particular family before the court. They are not ordinarily a forum for general inquiries…

In financial remedy proceedings heard in private, media attendance does not itself place compelled financial information in the public domain. The court must…

In financial remedy proceedings involving criminally derived assets, the family court must balance the competing statutory regimes and the rights of the…

Consent to adoption may be dispensed with only where the child’s welfare requires it. The test is imperative: adoption must be demanded by the child’s welfare…

In a long marriage, pre-marital wealth may be excluded from the sharing principle, but the assessment is fact-sensitive. Duration, mingling of assets, the…

Financial remedy orders must produce a fair outcome in the particular circumstances, applying Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 25. Equality remains the…

Jurisdiction over parental-responsibility issues may remain in the courts of a Member State despite the children’s habitual residence in another Member State…

A parental agreement under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 must be genuine and lawful. The parent must have capacity to consent, the consent must be fully…

In deciding whether life-sustaining treatment should be withdrawn from a child, the court must make an independent assessment of the child’s welfare, treating…

For the threshold under Children Act 1989, s 31(2)(b)(ii), a child may be beyond parental control even where the condition arises from reactive attachment…

A ceremony conducted in England may fall within the Marriage Act 1949 even though important statutory preliminaries were omitted. The question is whether…

In care proceedings, postponement may be justified where there is a real prospect that a parent will become able to protect the children within their…

Applications to restrict reporting of criminal proceedings require an intense, fact-specific comparison of the competing rights under Articles 8 and 10.…

An order under Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, s 37, setting aside a transaction intended to defeat a financial-relief claim operates retrospectively. The…

In determining a child’s welfare, the court must prioritise the child’s need for safety, stability and appropriate care while respecting existing family life.…

Where children and both parents are habitually resident outside England, an English court may relinquish jurisdiction over welfare issues where its order and…

In determining children’s welfare, the court must assess their wishes and feelings in context and distinguish genuine preferences from views shaped by loyalty…

Where a court in another EU member state has made a residence or parental responsibility order, the registration and appeal procedure under Council Regulation…

In care proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving the facts relied on for the threshold criteria. Allegations of serious harm, including…

In financial remedy proceedings, the court may vary a nuptial settlement by directing assets held through an interposed company to be appointed to the…

In family proceedings, the court has a broad discretion on costs and begins with no presumption that one party pays the other’s costs. An application…

In a financial remedy claim involving substantial inherited wealth, the court must apply the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 to achieve fairness in all the…

Proceedings under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 are public business. The starting point is an open hearing, without anonymisation…

Recognition of a non-Convention foreign adoption under the common law requires consideration of three matters: whether the adoption was lawfully obtained…

A child’s legal status is a welfare issue. Where an adoption plan has failed, a local authority must reconsider the child’s status, family relationships and…

In financial remedy proceedings involving trusts, the court must consider the interests of beneficiaries when deciding whether and how to exercise its powers.…

Article 20 of Brussels II Revised permits a court to grant provisional protective measures concerning a child present in its jurisdiction, even where another…

In children proceedings, the usual position is that there will be no order for costs. That is not an inflexible rule. The court may order a local authority to…

In a fact-finding rehearing, fresh medical evidence and later-discovered evidence affecting parental credibility may require earlier findings to be…

Where publicly funded parties seek expert evidence, the Legal Services Commission may refuse funding, fund it in part, or cap the expert’s fees, subject to the…

Disclosure of mutual legal assistance material in civil proceedings is not subject to an absolute statutory bar where binding authority establishes that the…

Documents and evidence produced under compulsion in financial remedy proceedings are protected from disclosure to third parties. Disclosure may be permitted…

A parental order, like an adoption order, confers enduring legal status and should be set aside only in exceptional circumstances. Serious procedural failures…

Part III relief is not automatically assessed as though the parties had divorced in England. The court must select the appropriate approach by reference to all…

On an application for funding of legal costs within proceedings under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989, the court has a wide discretion to make an order…

Cohabitation after decree nisi may invalidate the basis on which a divorce decree was granted. In an adultery case, cohabitation for more than six months after…

An advance decision to refuse life-sustaining treatment is effective where the maker had capacity when it was made and the statutory formalities are satisfied.…

Relevant material in care proceedings may be withheld where disclosure creates a compelling and rigorously assessed risk of significant harm or threatens an…

A beneficial interest transferred voluntarily for no consideration may be established by resulting trust without relying on an unlawful purpose. Where that…

In a child-injury fact-finding hearing, the local authority must prove allegations on the balance of probabilities. Findings must rest on evidence and proper…

Under Brussels II Revised, a court first seised of substantive parental-responsibility proceedings may determine its jurisdiction and continue with welfare…

Permission to appeal under rule 30.3(7) of the Family Proceedings Rules 2010 should be granted where the appeal has a real prospect of success or there is…

A ceremony conducted in England which wholly fails to comply with the English marriage legislation may be a non-marriage, rather than a valid or void marriage.…

In an application to relocate a child abroad, the child’s welfare is paramount. The court must consider all the circumstances, including section 1(3) of the…

In care proceedings, the court determines disputed facts on the balance of probabilities, with the burden resting on the party seeking the finding. State…

A wasted costs order requires proof that the legal representative acted improperly, unreasonably or negligently, that the conduct caused identifiable wasted…

Under Brussels II Revised, jurisdiction in parental-responsibility matters ordinarily lies with the court of the child’s habitual residence, reflecting the…

In a short marriage, financial provision should promote independent and self-sufficient living, while fairly recognising needs, compensation, sharing and the…

In financial remedy proceedings, a foreign matrimonial property regime does not determine the outcome under English law. It may provide evidence of the…

Disclosure in contact proceedings is governed by a balance between the right to a fair hearing and the privacy, health and safety rights of those affected. A…

A court may impound a party’s passport during pending financial remedy proceedings where this is necessary to protect its procedures. Because such an order…

In an application to relocate a child internationally, the child’s welfare is the paramount consideration. The guidance in Payne v Payne and K v K provides…

Under Part 4A of the Family Law Act 1996, the court may make protective orders where a person has been forced, or is at risk of being forced, into marriage…

Permission to appeal should be granted only where the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success or there is another compelling reason for hearing it. The…

In financial-remedy proceedings, material non-disclosure requires the court to draw only properly supported and reasonable inferences. If hidden funds are…

A person can have only one marriage at a time. A later ceremony in another country has no legal effect where the earlier marriage remains valid, unless the…

In a financial remedy claim, pre-marital wealth may be excluded from the sharing exercise where it underpinned the parties’ later prosperity, but the court…

On an ex parte application under Family Procedure Rules 2010 Part 30, the court may determine permission to appeal definitively, including by granting…