High Court: Family Division judgments, 2013

Interim removal of children from their family home into foster care is justified only where it is necessary to protect their interests, in the sense that…

For the purposes of the Hague Convention, a wrongful removal is not converted into a wrongful retention merely because the child remains abroad while…

An appeal court reviewing a financial remedy order must respect the lower court’s evaluative discretion. It may intervene where the decision is plainly wrong…

Successive committal orders for contempt may be lawful, but each further term must remain necessary, proportionate and justified. The court must consider the…

In international child-abduction proceedings, a respondent who is impecunious and unable to present properly arguable Convention defences may require publicly…

An application under Article 15 of Brussels II revised requires three questions: whether the child has a particular connection with the other Member State…

Where a child requires medical treatment, the court may authorise procedures that are in the child’s best interests, having regard to their risks, burdens and…

A reporting restriction order requires a fact-specific balancing exercise between the competing rights protected by Articles 6, 8 and 10 of the Convention. The…

Where jurisdiction to determine matrimonial status or grant financial relief is seriously uncertain, interim financial provision must be approached with great…

In private-law proceedings concerning a child whose mother asserted that she had died abroad, the court applied the balance of probabilities. The burden lay on…

In determining a reporting restriction application, the court must balance the competing interests in publicity and privacy. The child’s anonymity should be…

A parental-responsibility order is final for the purposes of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 where it conclusively determines the relief sought, even…

Where parents in medical-treatment proceedings have not been appropriately served, the court should ordinarily adjourn if the child can safely tolerate a short…

Adoption is a last resort. A court may approve it only where it is necessary for the child’s protection and nothing else will do. Before placing a child…

A nuptial agreement should be upheld where it was freely entered into with a full appreciation of its implications, unless it would be unfair to hold the…

In fact-finding proceedings concerning alleged inflicted injury, the court applies the simple balance of probabilities. The seriousness of the allegation or…

In care proceedings concerning serious injuries to an infant, findings must be based on the whole body of evidence, applying the balance of probabilities. The…

Where the threshold for State intervention is established, the court must treat the child’s welfare as paramount and select the least interventionist order…

Where an overseas marriage ceremony fails to satisfy formal requirements of the law of the place of celebration, the marriage is invalid for English purposes.…

A consent order may be invalid where a party lacked capacity to enter the compromise, even if the other party and the court were unaware of that incapacity. A…

Where an appellate court sets aside a lower court order for want of jurisdiction, the order ceases to have effect and cannot ordinarily found an issue…

In private-law children proceedings, parental status has significance only insofar as it contributes to the child’s welfare. The child’s welfare remains the…

Adoption is a last resort. A court considering a care plan for adoption or a non-consensual placement order must identify the realistic alternatives and…

In financial remedy proceedings, the court must determine the parties’ true financial positions by applying the statutory factors and making findings on the…

In financial remedy proceedings involving offshore discretionary trusts, the court must determine realistically whether trust assets are resources likely to be…

When deciding whether to make a legal services order, the court must first be satisfied that the applicant cannot reasonably obtain appropriate legal services…

Deliberate obstruction of a court order intended to locate and protect a vulnerable child in local-authority care is a serious contempt requiring a sentence…

In child-protection fact-finding proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving non-accidental injury on the balance of probabilities. A court is…

A freezing order may include an injunction restraining competition with a family company where the respondent has an appropriate cause of action against him.…

The inherent jurisdiction may protect a vulnerable adult who has capacity where protection is necessary to preserve the practical exercise of that capacity.…

The Family Division must respect the constitutional boundary between family jurisdiction and immigration control. It may express requests and opinions to…

At the interim stage of care proceedings, the threshold for protective intervention and the proportionality of removal are distinct questions. The court must…

An interim care order should be made only where the child’s safety demands immediate separation. The threshold for significant harm is not, by itself…

In a needs-based financial remedy case, inherited or externally derived wealth remains a financial resource capable of meeting a party’s needs, but its…

A maintenance debtor may be committed to prison only if the court is satisfied that the debtor has, or has had, the means to pay and has refused or neglected…

In care and adoption proceedings, parental love and a strong relationship with children do not by themselves establish that rehabilitation is safe. The court…

In a Hague Convention return application, a child’s objection must be assessed in three stages: whether there is an objection, whether the child has sufficient…

When determining arrangements for children, welfare is the paramount consideration. The court must consider the statutory welfare factors and evaluate all…

Where an application concerning a litigation friend and legal representation is raised shortly before a significant substantive hearing, the court may decline…

In financial remedy proceedings, the general expectation of no order as to costs may be displaced where a party’s conduct makes a costs order appropriate. A…

Where contempt of a location order prevents the court from locating a child, sentencing must reflect both the seriousness of the breach and subsequent…

Permission to appeal in financial-remedy proceedings should be granted where there is a realistic prospect that the maintenance award leaves the payer without…

A person subject to a location order must cooperate with the court and disclose information within their knowledge about the whereabouts of a child and…

A marriage involving a party domiciled in England and Wales is subject to the English statutory minimum-age rules, even if celebrated abroad and valid under…

On an application to discharge a care order, the court may summarily dismiss the application after appropriate enquiry where it has no realistic prospect of…

The judgment text was removed by direction of the court on 19 November 2013. No legal proposition or holding can therefore be identified from the supplied…

A party cannot found divorce, nullity or financial-relief proceedings on a marriage which has not been established. Where foreign proceedings were stayed so…

Separation after an adoption application does not necessarily require the application to be restarted or confined to one applicant. The court must determine…

A person subject to a collection order must provide all information within their knowledge or understanding that may reasonably assist in locating children.…

In care proceedings, the local authority bears the ordinary burden of proving allegations on the balance of probabilities. Seriousness may require more cogent…

When deciding whether to make a parental order following an overseas surrogacy arrangement, the court must assess all statutory conditions and consider the…

The nationality jurisdiction may be exercised where a child’s habitual residence is not established, but it requires extreme circumspection. Exceptionality is…

Under Article 15 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 2201/2003, a transfer requires a particular connection with another Member State, that its courts would be…

In care proceedings, findings must be based on evidence and properly supported inferences, applying the balance of probabilities; suspicion and speculation are…

Successive committal orders may be made for breaches of fresh, free-standing mandatory orders, even where earlier orders concerned similar obligations. The…

Under the inherent jurisdiction, the High Court may authorise a child’s detention in secure accommodation where the statutory jurisdiction is unavailable, but…

British citizenship may provide a theoretical basis for jurisdiction over children, but jurisdiction will be exercised only where the circumstances justify it.…

In determining a child’s best interests, the court must consider welfare in its widest sense from the child’s point of view. This includes medical, emotional…

The High Court may use its inherent jurisdiction to authorise the placement of a ward of court in secure accommodation, including where the statutory scheme…

The court may use its inherent jurisdiction to make an anticipatory declaration concerning a child who has not yet been born, provided that the declaration…

Jurisdiction in child matters turns on the child’s habitual residence at the time the court is seised. Habitual residence is a factual inquiry focused on the…

A reporting restriction must be justified by a fact-specific and proportionate balance between a child’s privacy and the public’s freedom to discuss the family…

In a dispute between parents about vaccination, the court must determine the issue by applying the welfare principle to the individual child. The child’s…

In long-term welfare decisions, a child’s wishes and feelings must be considered but cannot determine the outcome where the child lacks the maturity, insight…

There is no presumption that adoption or special guardianship is preferable in a particular category of case. The court must decide which order best meets the…

Where parties reach a concluded agreement in financial remedy proceedings, the court must decide whether the agreement is binding or whether a vitiating factor…

In a Hague Convention child-abduction case, a return order need not always direct the child to the state from which the wrongful removal occurred. The…

When asked to make an injunction whose compliance is said to be impossible, the court must assess the likelihood of futility. It should make the appropriate…

A person may be committed for breach of a mandatory order only where the order states clearly, precisely and unambiguously what must be done and the time for…

On an application for leave to oppose adoption, a parent must establish a change of circumstances since the placement order which is relevant and material, and…

When deciding whether sterilisation is in the best interests of a person who lacks capacity, the court must apply the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and conduct a…

In Part III financial-relief proceedings, the Family Division applies ordinary principles of property and trust law. Where a company acquires property with…

In care proceedings involving suspected non-accidental injury, the local authority bears the burden of proving the threshold facts on the balance of…

Recognition and enforcement of a foreign child-residence order may be refused on public-policy grounds only in exceptional circumstances. The test under…

Applications to terminate a parent’s parental responsibility, change a child’s name and make a residence order are determined by the child’s welfare.…

Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 does not govern jurisdictional disputes between the territorial units of the United Kingdom. Its article 15 therefore…

Contact enforcement must be assessed in the wider context of the children’s welfare, family relationships and the causes of resistance to contact. An…

A local authority must independently assess and test information relied on in child-protection decisions. Repetition does not establish reliability. Important…

In private-law children proceedings, each disputed allegation must be proved by the party making it, on the balance of probabilities. Fact-finding requires…

A police force has no standing to apply for committal for contempt of an order made in private civil proceedings where it did not obtain the order and has no…

In care proceedings, the court must assess the child’s best interests by balancing the benefits and risks of the proposed placement under section 1 of the…

In a family fact-finding hearing, the court must resolve allegations that are relevant to the children’s welfare, even where the welfare decision will be made…

Where publicity concerning a child engages both privacy and freedom of expression, neither right has automatic precedence. The court must intensely focus on…

Where a family order deliberately devolves decisions about planned medical or dental treatment to the parents, subject to informing and consulting the other…

For domicile purposes, residence and intention must be assessed together in their factual context. A domicile of choice is abandoned only when the person…

Accredited media representatives have a right, or starting-point, of attendance at private family proceedings. They may be excluded under FPR rule 27.11(3)…

In child-protection fact-finding proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving alleged facts on the balance of probabilities. The court must…

For a parental order, the court must be satisfied that the statutory conditions in section 54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 are met and…

In deciding whether a child should be placed for adoption, the court must focus on the child’s welfare needs and the necessity and proportionality of…

Skype may be used in family proceedings where it provides a reliable and suitably secure means of obtaining evidence or recording legally significant…

Visual impairment does not, of itself, disqualify an adult from being a capable and loving parent. An adoption order may properly be made where updated welfare…

In care proceedings, the court must assess medical and other evidence in its totality. A further investigation or adjournment is justified only where there is…

In family fact-finding proceedings, allegations are determined on the balance of probabilities. The seriousness of the allegations and consequences does not…

The Family Division may determine a child’s age and make a declaration even where age is not decisive of jurisdiction. The court should do so where the finding…

In care proceedings, the local authority must prove the Children Act 1989 threshold on the balance of probabilities. The court must distinguish suspicion from…

A local authority directed under Children Act 1989, section 37, to investigate whether public law proceedings should be issued may be ordered to pay a…

Care proceedings should not continue merely because concerns remain if the local authority cannot establish the statutory threshold on the evidence. The burden…

A customary marriage under Onitsha Igbo law is dissolved only where the husband’s wish to divorce is communicated to and supported by his kinsmen, the two…

In disputes arising from informal donor conception, legal parentage depends first on how conception occurred. Sexual intercourse makes the biological father…

In committal proceedings for breach of a family order, the applicant bears the burden of proof and must establish each breach to the criminal standard. The…

On a request under Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 Article 15, the requested court’s role is limited. It should not conduct a full merits hearing or…

In fact-finding care proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving allegations on the balance of probabilities. Findings must rest on evidence…

Jurisdiction in care proceedings under Brussels II Revised is determined primarily by the child’s habitual residence when the court is seised. Habitual…

When deciding whether adoption is necessary, the court must give paramount consideration to the child’s welfare throughout life and ask whether anything short…

When deciding whether children should remain within their wider family, the court must treat their welfare as paramount and respect the family life of the…

In care proceedings involving allegations of salt poisoning, the court must determine the factual issue on the balance of probabilities. Expert medical…

Under the Maintenance Regulation, the lis pendens rule must be applied to prevent irreconcilable judgments. It is not applied mechanically, but the protective…

A freezing order is not a means of securing a prospective financial award. An applicant must provide clear evidence of unjustified dealings with assets, or…

In financial remedy proceedings, interim maintenance may be ordered where the applicant has limited income and cannot presently access available capital. The…

In care and placement proceedings, children’s pressing need for permanence, security and stability may make adoption preferable to long-term fostering, even…

Capacity must be assessed by reference to the decision actually in issue and the information reasonably relevant to it. The assessment must distinguish…

An English court should not proceed to dissolve a marriage if, on the material available, it probably has already been dissolved abroad. Where the foreign…

When deciding whether a vulnerable witness should give evidence, the court must balance the need to determine the truth and assess the evidence fairly against…

Under the Human Tissue Act 2004, removal, storage or use of human tissue for medical testing ordinarily requires appropriate consent. Where the highest-ranking…

An adoption order, together with the absence of post-adoption direct contact, is permissible only where it is necessary, proportionate and effectively a last…

In assessing financial remedies, the court must apply Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 25, and reach a fair result. A nuptial agreement should be given…

When deciding an application for a parental order, the court must scrutinise all payments made by the applicants in connection with the arrangement, not only…

In care proceedings alleging non-accidental injury, the local authority bears the burden of proof on the balance of probabilities. Findings must rest on…

In care and placement proceedings, the children’s welfare requires careful balancing of family life, parental wishes, cultural identity, stability and the risk…

Legal parenthood for a second woman under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 depends on strict statutory and licensing compliance. Written, signed…

Habitual residence under the Hague Convention is determined from all the circumstances, including the child’s integration into a social and family environment…

Revocation of a properly made adoption order through the inherent jurisdiction is permissible only in highly exceptional circumstances. Leave should be granted…

When deciding whether to vary a reporting restriction after a criminal conviction, the court must balance Articles 8 and 10 without giving either automatic…

In high-value financial remedy proceedings, equal sharing of wealth generated by the parties’ joint efforts during the marriage is the normal starting point…

In quasi-criminal committal proceedings for breach of a family undertaking, the applicant bears the burden of proving each breach to the criminal standard. The…

In determining an application to relocate a child internationally, the child’s welfare is paramount. The court must consider all relevant welfare factors…

In committal proceedings, contempt must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. Where children have been wrongfully removed from one jurisdiction, proceedings for…

In an international surrogacy application, the court must examine each statutory condition for a parental order and separately decide whether to authorise…

Permission to apply for an adoption order under section 42(6) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 requires a fact-sensitive discretionary assessment. The…

A family company structure may itself constitute a variable nuptial settlement where, viewed as a whole, it makes continuing provision for either or both…

When a relative seeks late permission to apply for a special guardianship order, the court must consider the statutory leave criteria together with the 26-week…

In care proceedings, further assessment aimed at rehabilitation is unnecessary where the evidence shows no realistic prospect of safe reunification within the…

When an application seeks to restrict reporting of a criminal trial, the court must balance Articles 8 and 10 without giving either automatic precedence. It…

In care proceedings, the court must decide whether the statutory threshold is met and then determine what order best serves each child’s welfare. The local…

Material non-disclosure does not justify setting aside a financial settlement unless it led, or would have led, to an order substantially different from the…

In deciding whether a child should return to a parent, the court must determine whether there is a real possibility that the parent will provide care that is…

In care proceedings, findings of fact must be based on evidence and properly drawn inferences, not suspicion or speculation. A child’s age may be determined…

In determining arrangements for a child, the child’s welfare remains the court’s paramount consideration under Children Act 1989, section 1(1). The welfare…

Under section 38(6) of the Children Act 1989, the court may direct medical or genetic testing of children subject to interim care orders. The decision must be…

In a family fact-finding hearing, allegations are determined on the simple balance of probabilities. Evidence of a young child’s alleged disclosure requires…

In family fact-finding proceedings, the court applies the simple balance of probabilities test. Allegations must be assessed on the totality of the evidence.…

On an appeal against striking out an application to vary financial provision, the appellate court reviews the first-instance process rather than rehearing the…

A sentence for contempt must reflect the seriousness of the breach while taking account of relevant mitigation. A respondent’s disagreement with an underlying…

Costs in family proceedings are governed by the discretion to make an order that is just. There is no general rule that costs follow the event. The court may…

Parental responsibility acquired by an unmarried father should not be terminated lightly. The applicant bears a firm burden of proof, and the court must treat…

In proceedings for contempt of court arising from breach of a collection order, the applicant bears the burden of proving the alleged contempt to the criminal…

Habitual residence is a question of fact. The court should take a broad view of the evidence rather than conduct a microscopic examination of individual…

In financial remedy proceedings, equality remains the starting point where the sharing principle applies. Departure requires a good reason, assessed without…

In committal proceedings for breach of an order requiring disclosure of a missing child’s whereabouts, the alleging party bears the burden of proof. The court…

Under Article 13 of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980, the court must first decide whether the child objects to…

A committal application should be struck out at an early stage only where it is plainly unfounded, abusive or procedurally defective. Under the applicable…

Recognition of an overseas divorce may be refused on public-policy grounds only where recognition would offend substantial justice. The jurisdiction is narrow…

Habitual residence is a question of fact assessed by examining the child’s actual integration into a social and family environment. Residence may be habitual…

For the step-parent adoption gateway in section 42(3) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the child must have had a genuine home with the applicant…

On an application under Article 15 of Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003, the court of the requested Member State determines whether transfer is in the child’s…

When considering a parental order following an international surrogacy arrangement, the court must scrutinise payments and related conduct for the…

Jurisdiction prorogued under Article 12(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No.2201/2003 is linked to the proceedings for which the parties accepted jurisdiction. It…

When choosing between adoption and special guardianship in a family placement, the court must determine which order best serves the child’s welfare throughout…

In care proceedings, serious defects in interviews with children do not automatically make the evidence worthless. The court must assess the evidence as a…

Where financial issues affect both ancillary-relief proceedings and bankruptcy proceedings, the Family Division may manage and determine appropriate…

In a fact-finding hearing concerning non-accidental injury to a child, the local authority bears the burden of proving the facts on the simple balance of…

Where a looked-after child is placed overseas under continuing local-authority responsibility, the court may permit removal while preserving the child’s…

Article 15 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 applies to public law as well as private law proceedings. The court must first identify a particular…

In a long marriage, wealth generated during the marriage is ordinarily shared equally. A departure requires a good reason grounded in the statutory factors and…

In financial remedy appeals under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989, costs should prima facie follow the event. The court retains discretion concerning…

A declaration of marital status is determined on the ordinary balance of probabilities. Marriage, although a matter of status, attracts no special standard of…

In care proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving disputed facts on the balance of probabilities. A lie is not, without more, evidence of…

Registration of a foreign judgment under rule 31.8 of the FPR 2010 is an administrative process, and a challenge must be brought by appeal. Recognition may be…

Permission to appeal a financial remedy order requires a real prospect of success. An appeal may proceed where the lower court may have failed to make proper…

In care proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving significant harm and its attribution to care falling below the standard reasonably…

Permission to withdraw public-law care proceedings requires an objective, child-focused assessment. The court must not treat the local authority’s view that…

In fact-finding proceedings, the party seeking a finding bears the burden of proof. A finding that an event occurred requires the court to be satisfied that it…

In an application to relocate children overseas, the child’s welfare is paramount. There is no legal or evidential presumption in favour of relocation by a…

A deprivation of liberty under Article 5 requires confinement in a limited space for more than a negligible time, absence of valid consent, and State…

In determining children’s welfare, the court must assess both physical and emotional safety over the period for which protection is required. Good intentions…

For a parental order, domicile is a mandatory jurisdictional gateway. Applicants must prove abandonment of their domicile of origin and acquisition of a…

In determining beneficial ownership of property held through an offshore company, the court must examine the parties’ true intention and the transaction’s…

In determining contact and a proposed change of name, the court’s paramount consideration is the welfare of each child. Contact with a non-resident parent is…

A decision to remove a child from prospective adopters is momentous. It must be based on a sound welfare assessment and reached fairly. The prospective adopter…

A court should make a declaration of parentage only when judicially satisfied that the evidence is accurate and reliable. Scientific DNA analysis may be…

In care proceedings, poverty, social deprivation and cultural background must be considered carefully, but they do not determine whether the statutory…

When a biological father seeks leave under section 10 of the Children Act 1989 to apply for a section 8 order concerning a child conceived by artificial…

The court’s jurisdiction over matrimonial and child-welfare issues cannot be ousted by agreement. Parties may nevertheless be permitted and encouraged to use…

Where intensive enforcement measures have failed and mature children remain steadfastly opposed to return, the court may decline a further injunction against…

Where parental care is no longer a realistic option, the court must anxiously and carefully weigh placement within the wider family against adoption. The…

For jurisdiction to recognise an overseas adoption, an applicant may establish habitual residence in England and Wales despite substantial physical absence.…

Permission to appeal under rule 30.3(7) of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 requires a real prospect of success, meaning a realistic rather than fanciful…

For Hague Convention purposes, the lawfulness of a child’s removal is assessed at the time of removal. A later appellate reversal of the order authorising the…

In a fact-finding hearing concerning alleged child sexual abuse, the person making an allegation bears the burden of proving it on the balance of…

In proceedings for contempt arising from non-compliance with financial disclosure orders, the applicant bears the burden of proving each breach to the criminal…

Under Schedule 1 to the Children Act, financial provision is for the benefit of the child, not for the personal benefit of a parent. A court must guard against…

In a fact-finding hearing, allegations are established on the balance of probabilities. A witness’s deliberate lies on one subject do not automatically make…

Where a freeing order is revoked, the care order made immediately before it revives automatically. The court has no discretion to substitute an interim care…