High Court: Family Division judgments, 2015

Where a financial claim for a child has recently been fully adjudicated, a substantially identical renewed application may be struck out as having no…

A consent financial remedy order must be construed objectively, by asking what it would convey to a reasonable person with the relevant background known to the…

An interim care order and the removal of children from parental care involve separate questions. Satisfying the interim threshold does not itself justify…

Where children habitually resident in an EU Member State are wrongfully retained in a non-EU state, Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 may preserve the…

In fact-finding proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving each allegation on the balance of probabilities. The court must assess the…

In committal proceedings for breach of a child arrangements order, the applicant must prove each alleged breach beyond reasonable doubt. A parent cannot treat…

Where the Council Regulation does not apply, the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction to make a child arrangements order if the child is habitually…

A European arrest warrant is unavailable for civil contempt, even where imprisonment has been imposed. A statement verified by a statement of truth is not an…

In financial remedy proceedings, pension rights must be assessed as part of the parties’ wider financial resources, with proper regard to the difference…

An application for summary return under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction cannot properly succeed where the proposed…

A declaration of parentage cannot be granted by consent or default. The court must examine the facts in light of the applicable law and be satisfied that the…

Under the Hague Convention, a child’s removal is wrongful where the child was habitually resident in another contracting state and removal breached custody…

Under art 19 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 2201/2003 (Brussels IIa), where divorce proceedings between the same parties are pending in different Member States…

Capacity to marry is decision-specific and requires understanding of the nature of marriage and the duties and responsibilities ordinarily attached to it. A…

A local authority requires leave under section 100 of the Children Act 1989 before invoking the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction concerning a child. Leave…

Applications under the Hague Convention should generally be pursued through the Convention’s substantive defences rather than by striking out the return…

In care proceedings, disputed facts must be proved on the simple balance of probabilities. The seriousness of an allegation does not raise the standard of…

Under Article 12 of the 1980 Hague Convention, once a return order is made, the child must be returned forthwith. A short delay is permissible only to identify…

Under Article 13 of the Hague Convention, the grave-risk exception requires a serious risk of harm or an intolerable situation. The assessment must address the…

In an adoption application, the child’s welfare throughout life is paramount. The court must consider the statutory factors, including the lifelong effect of…

In determining whether to order a child’s summary return abroad, the court’s paramount consideration is the child’s welfare. The court must balance parental…

In summary return proceedings under the Hague Convention, consent to removal must be clear and unequivocal. Discussions or plans for a family relocation do not…

After statutory anonymity under Children Act 1989, s 97 ends, the High Court may continue to protect a child’s identity through a reporting restrictions order…

In an application under Children Act 1989, s 13, the court must determine relocation by a global and holistic evaluation of the competing welfare options. The…

Family practitioners and solicitors must comply strictly and promptly with court orders and must notify listing offices of material changes affecting hearings.…

In publicity decisions concerning family proceedings, the court must balance the public interest in openness against the welfare and privacy of vulnerable…

In a financial remedy case, the sharing principle applies to matrimonial assets built up during a marriage, including a short and childless marriage…

Wardship and a return order should not continue where the child has lived for a substantial period in another country in an apparently settled environment, the…

In an exceptionally unusual Hague Convention case, the court recognised that the effect of a child’s return on the abducting parent may be relevant where the…

In ancillary relief proceedings, repeated applications for the same relief are abusive where there has been no material change of circumstances. Once relief…

In determining an application for an adoption order, the child’s welfare throughout life is paramount. Adoption is permissible only where the circumstances…

Where a respondent is outside the jurisdiction, the court may direct service by email under the general service rule where the applicable provisions do not…

Article 15 of BIIa is an exception to the ordinary jurisdiction founded on habitual residence and must be construed narrowly. The court must ask whether the…

A first-instance judge cannot entertain an appeal from an order made by another first-instance judge. Where an order expressly grants liberty to apply to the…

In financial family proceedings, the court must actively promote proportionate and consensual resolution. Where the sums in dispute are modest compared with…

Wardship orders should be discharged where updated evidence shows that identified risks are manageable through child in need plans and continued parental…

In applications concerning reporting of care proceedings, the court must balance the public interest in media reporting and greater transparency against the…

A strong presumption exists that preserving life is in a person's best interests, but it is not absolute. Life-sustaining treatment may lawfully be withdrawn…

The High Court has an inherent jurisdiction based on a child's British nationality, even where the child is outside England and Wales. Its exercise requires…

A child looked after by a local authority may be placed or kept in secure accommodation where either statutory criterion in section 25 of the Children Act 1989…

Where an international child removal was initially wrongful, subsequent events may make immediate return proceedings under the Hague Convention inappropriate.…

In determining child arrangements, the court must make the order that best serves the child’s welfare, while respecting the child’s developing autonomy. A…

The restrictions in regulation 5(2) of the Children (Secure Accommodation) Regulations 1991 apply to a person over 16 accommodated under section 20(5) of the…

In care proceedings, findings of abuse must be based on evidence, including properly drawn inferences, rather than suspicion or speculation. The court must…

In determining a child’s welfare, the court must balance the immediate shock and distress caused by changing an established living arrangement against the…

Habitual residence depends on a child’s integration in a social and family environment, assessed in all the circumstances. Parental plans and preparatory steps…

Permission to appeal out of time in care proceedings should be refused where the delay is substantial, inadequately explained, and materially prejudices the…

A child under 16 cannot give legally effective consent to surgery, although the child’s refusal is an important consideration whose weight increases with age…

In deciding whether life-sustaining treatment should be withdrawn from a child lacking capacity, the court must exercise an independent and objective judgment…

In deciding whether life-sustaining treatment should be withdrawn from a child, the child’s welfare and best interests are paramount. There is a strong…

Where a court orders the interim sale of a matrimonial home occupied by one spouse, it must first determine whether that spouse’s occupation rights should be…

Freezing injunctions in financial remedy proceedings must rest on an applicable statutory or equitable jurisdiction and objective evidence of a real risk that…

The source of a risk relied upon under article 13(b) of the Hague Convention is irrelevant once grave risk or intolerability is established. Its source may…

In ancillary relief proceedings heard in private, the trial court has power to make a reporting restriction order, even where the press may attend under the…

Under the Hague Convention, a parent relying on consent to a child’s removal or retention must establish clear and unequivocal consent. The court assesses the…

A judge may recuse himself where, despite being independent and objectively unbiased, he has solid reasons to feel personally embarrassed about hearing the…

The court may make a declaration of parentage under section 55A of the Family Law Act 1986 where it has jurisdiction and considers the declaration to be in the…

A judgment falling within the public-interest category of the Practice Guidance may nevertheless be withheld or published subject to restrictions where…

An application to commit for contempt cannot be enforced unless the order relied upon contains a penal notice prominently displayed on the front of the copy…

The making of an adoption order extinguishes pre-existing Article 8 family-life rights between a birth parent and the adopted child. Adoption and Children Act…

In Hague Convention child-abduction proceedings, a defence of acquiescence requires clear and unequivocal evidence, assessed by examining the wronged parent’s…

Legal parenthood following licensed assisted reproduction depends on signed written notices of consent given before treatment, but no particular statutory form…

In committal proceedings for breach of a family order, the applicant bears the burden of proving contempt to the criminal standard. The court must establish…

Children unlawfully retained abroad must be returned as quickly as possible where the court has jurisdiction and the circumstances require it. The risk of…

In care proceedings, the court must establish the threshold under Children Act 1989, section 31(2), and then determine the child’s welfare by scrutinising all…

When implementing a substantial lump sum order, the court may allow further time for payment where the payer’s assets are complex and realisation is genuinely…

A settlement is nuptial only if, when created, it was made in contemplation of the marriage which is the subject of the proceedings. A settlement that was…

Where a looked-after young person who has sufficient understanding to make medical decisions seeks privacy from parents, the court must balance the young…

In child-protection proceedings involving radicalisation, conventional safeguarding principles remain applicable. Effective protection requires open dialogue…

In financial remedy proceedings, repeated and deliberate breaches of orders for attendance and disclosure, together with destruction of security given by…

In a committal application, the notice must identify each alleged contempt with sufficient particularity to enable the respondent to understand and meet the…

Applications for reporting restriction orders engaging Articles 8 and 10 require an intense, fact-specific focus on the competing rights. Neither right has…

Life-sustaining treatment may be withheld where it would be futile, excessively burdensome, or provide no overall benefit to a child. The assessment must…

Habitual residence is determined by a broad assessment of the child’s integration in a social and family environment and the stability of the residence.…

Permission to appeal in financial remedy proceedings may be granted where the proposed appeal has a real, rather than merely fanciful, prospect of success. The…

In care proceedings involving an unexplained brain injury, the local authority must prove the alleged facts on the balance of probabilities. The court must…

Where GPS monitoring provides greater protection than radio-frequency monitoring but cannot be installed immediately, the court may balance the increased…

A location order must be construed according to its actual terms. An order directed to securing a child’s location and preventing the child’s removal from…

A financial remedies order should not be reopened merely because a creditor later offers to compromise a judgment debt, or because evidence existed before the…

Revocation of a properly made adoption order is permissible only in highly exceptional and very particular circumstances, because adoption is ordinarily final…

In financial remedy proceedings, the fruits of a marriage should ordinarily be shared equally, subject to good reason for departure. The sharing principle…

Under the 1996 Child Protection Convention, jurisdiction ordinarily rests with the state of a child’s habitual residence. Where habitual residence cannot be…

When reconsidering an interim care order, the court must decide whether the child’s safety requires continued separation and whether that response is…

In an application under the 1980 Hague Convention, retention occurs when a child taken abroad for a limited period is not returned when that period expires.…

A child’s placement is a deprivation of liberty where, viewed in the concrete circumstances, he is under continuous supervision and control and is not free to…

A final consent order may supersede an earlier interim maintenance order, including arrears, even where it does not expressly mention the earlier order. The…

Financial remedy proceedings are ordinarily private business. The media may attend as the public’s eyes and ears, but that role does not generally permit…

When a court makes a child-maintenance order under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989, the statutory child-support formula is ordinarily the starting point…

In determining a child’s living and schooling arrangements, the court must treat the child’s welfare as paramount and weigh the competing benefits and risks of…

The court may make a female genital mutilation protection order where, having regard to all the circumstances, protection is required for a girl’s health…

In a child-welfare case where England and Wales has jurisdiction as of right, a stay on forum conveniens grounds requires the applicant to establish that…

A passport order made under the inherent jurisdiction may secure a person’s attendance at a forthcoming hearing where departure would frustrate the hearing or…

Habitual residence is a question of fact requiring the child’s integration into a social and family environment with sufficient stability. Intention is…

A court order must be obeyed unless and until it is varied or discharged. The fact that an order may have been wrongly made provides no defence to contempt.…

Adoption is a last resort. The court must decide whether adoption is necessary for the child’s welfare throughout life, not merely whether adoption would offer…

The High Court’s inherent jurisdiction to protect children must be exercised within constitutional and statutory limits. It cannot support injunctions…

The statutory conditions for a parental order may be construed purposively where a strict reading would defeat the statutory purpose of securing the legal…

A later judgment from another United Kingdom jurisdiction has no legal status in England and Wales where no applicable recognition or enforcement regime…

Costs orders in children proceedings are rare, but may be made in separate committal proceedings that constitute satellite litigation. A litigant in person is…

Committal proceedings must identify separately and numerically each alleged contempt, with sufficient detail to enable the respondent to understand and meet…

In Hague Convention proceedings, settlement requires more than physical adjustment. It requires physical, emotional and psychological settlement, including…

A strong presumption supports treatment capable of prolonging life, reflecting the sanctity and value of life. The presumption is not irrebuttable. The court…

Where co-owners seek an order for sale of immovable property situated in England, proceedings may concern rights in rem even though the order is directed…

A foreign child-welfare order is a relevant factor, but it does not determine the outcome automatically. The English court must make an independent welfare…

Under the Hague Convention, wrongful retention ordinarily requires the summary return of a child to the country of habitual residence. Acquiescence depends…

When parents and treating doctors disagree about life-sustaining treatment for a child, the court must determine the child’s best interests. There is a strong…

A lifelong reporting restriction order may be made in civil or family proceedings where the protection of private life under article 8 of the Convention…

Applicants for an order under section 84 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 who have never had a home in England cannot satisfy the requirements that the…

At a fact-finding hearing, the court may determine disputed events relevant to future welfare decisions without making a final welfare determination at that…

Applications for international relocation are determined by the child’s welfare. Each case is fact-specific, and the court must consider the statutory welfare…

A consent financial order may be set aside under the Barder jurisdiction where a supervening event fundamentally invalidates the assumption on which it was…

Under Children Act 1989, s 25, the court may make a secure accommodation order where the child is likely to injure herself or others if kept in other…

In financial remedy proceedings, property held at separation may retain its matrimonial character even where its later increase results substantially from one…

A freely entered nuptial agreement, made with appreciation of its implications, should generally be given significant weight unless it would be unfair to hold…

Where a court makes an order without notice while unaware of a critical stay granted by another court, the order must be set aside to the extent that it is…

For enforcement purposes, money received into a third party’s bank account remains the debtor’s money where the third party holds it as nominee or bare…

Where a child has been wrongfully removed and no defence to summary return is advanced or succeeds, the court must order return under the Hague Convention and…

The High Court may exercise its inherent jurisdiction and wardship powers urgently and ex parte where there is an obvious risk to a vulnerable young person.…

Where a child has been wrongfully removed between EU Member States, or between states subscribing to the 1996 Hague Convention, the 1980 Hague Convention…

In a needs-based financial remedy case, fairness requires an overall assessment of the parties’ resources, needs, responsibilities, contributions and the…

Habitual residence requires a factual and individual inquiry focused on a child’s integration within a social and family environment. An infant may share the…

Recognition of an overseas divorce may be refused where the respondent received neither reasonable notice nor a reasonable opportunity to participate in the…

In deciding whether a child placed for adoption should be returned to an adoption agency, the court must apply the child-welfare considerations in section 1 of…

In care proceedings, the child’s welfare is the paramount consideration. The court must evaluate each realistic placement option holistically, giving proper…

The High Court may use its inherent jurisdiction to restrain a McKenzie friend who repeatedly behaves in a way that undermines the efficient administration of…

The High Court may make a British child a ward of court although the child is abroad. The jurisdiction requires extreme circumspection, but is appropriate…

When deciding whether life-sustaining treatment should be withdrawn from a person lacking capacity, the question is whether continuing the treatment is in that…

An application to revoke a placement order involves two stages. The court must first decide whether there has been a change in circumstances sufficient to…

In domestic-abuse fact-finding proceedings, the court must determine disputed facts on the ordinary balance of probabilities. The seriousness of an allegation…

A transfer under Article 15 of Brussels II Revised transfers jurisdiction over the specific case, or specific part of a case, identified in the request. It…

Habitual residence under the Hague Convention is determined by the child’s degree of integration into a social and family environment, assessed on the…

On an appeal from a financial remedy decision, the appellate court reviews the lower court’s discretionary decision. It may intervene only where the decision…

Legal advice privilege does not protect confidential conversations between friends merely because they concern possible legal problems or lead to contact with…

When exercising the inherent jurisdiction in relation to medical treatment of a child, the court must determine the child’s best interests by exercising an…

In an application for summary return under the Hague Convention, consent to removal must be clear and unequivocal. Advance consent may be conditional, but the…

In care proceedings involving disputed non-accidental injuries, the local authority bears the burden of proving the allegations on the balance of…

Wardship remains available as a flexible, residual protective jurisdiction notwithstanding the restrictions imposed by Children Act 1989, s 100. Section 100(2)…

In a Hague Convention child-abduction application, consent to holiday travel or general approval of relocation does not amount to clear and unequivocal consent…

On an application for summary return under the Hague Child Abduction Convention, the court must first decide whether a Convention exception is established. If…

Applications cannot be used to re-litigate matters already determined. A party seeking to reopen concluded issues must identify a material change since the…

In a fact-finding hearing, allegations must be proved by the party bearing the burden of proof on the balance of probabilities. Findings must be based on…

A final consent order in ancillary relief proceedings is not challengeable only by appeal. The family court’s statutory power to vary, suspend, rescind or…

In care and placement proceedings, the court must identify the factual basis for any predicted significant harm and demonstrate the necessary connection…

The court may extend protective orders made in wardship proceedings beyond a young person’s eighteenth birthday where continuing protection is required. The…

The six-month period in section 54(3) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 is directory, not an absolute bar. The court may permit a late…

Under section 10 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, a claim should not be summarily terminated merely because the claimant…

The test for deprivation of liberty applies to a person under 16. Constant supervision and control, together with an inability to leave freely, may satisfy its…

A parental order may be made following foreign surrogacy where the statutory conditions in Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, s 54, are satisfied and…

Publication of a family fact-finding judgment should ordinarily be permitted in a serious case, particularly where transparency and the public interest are…

In urgent ex parte applications concerning children at risk of international travel to areas of serious danger, the court may use wardship and associated…

The supplied material contains only the case name, citation, court and judgment date. The judgment text and resulting legal principles are not stated.

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

Habitual residence is a question of fact, distinct from domicile. The central inquiry is the child’s degree of integration into a social and family…

Habitual residence under Brussels II Revised is a factual question. The court must assess whether the child is integrated into a social and family environment…

Wardship may provide an appropriate protective jurisdiction for a minor facing an exceptional and specific risk, including threatened removal from England and…

Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 addresses inadequate financial provision following an overseas divorce. The court must establish…

An adoption order will rarely be made where it confers no benefit during the adoptee’s childhood but principally secures citizenship or a right of abode in…

In financial remedy proceedings, the sharing principle requires equal treatment of the parties’ contributions, without discrimination between breadwinner and…

An order for costs funding in private-law children proceedings is distinct from an order for costs. The former may be made under Schedule 1 to the Children Act…

Imprisonment is not an automatic consequence of breaching a family court order. The court must consider the circumstances and the contemnor’s opportunity to…

A request for amplification of a judgment should be made promptly and before final hand-down. A court may nevertheless address a late request where necessary…

In committal proceedings for breach of mandatory family orders, the court must first construe the order and identify precisely what it required. It must then…

A nuptial agreement should be construed as a coherent whole. A provision allowing a spouse to seek alternative financial relief must confer a real, not…

Adoption is a last resort and may be authorised only where the child’s welfare requires it and no realistic alternative can meet the child’s needs within an…

Allegations of financial non-disclosure require a sound evidential basis. The court may draw reasonable adverse inferences and quantify hidden assets broadly…

Authorities seeking urgent collection orders for vulnerable children must have firm, appropriate and durable arrangements for placement and transportation in…

In ancillary relief proceedings, matrimonial property should ordinarily be identified and divided equally, while non-matrimonial property should ordinarily be…

An application for leave to oppose an adoption order under section 47(5) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 involves two stages. First, the parent must…

Irreversible cessation of brain-stem function constitutes legal death in the United Kingdom, although residual neurological or spinal activity may continue.…

In care proceedings, a child’s welfare remains paramount, but decisions must be based on proved evidence and a realistic assessment of each parent’s capacity…

Committal proceedings may exceptionally be determined in a respondent’s absence where the court is satisfied that the respondent had proper notice, has…

In relocation proceedings, the child’s welfare is paramount. The court must assess the practical effect of removal on the child’s relationship with the…

In determining whether adoption is required, the court must treat the child’s lifelong welfare as paramount and conduct a holistic, rigorous comparison of…

At the gateway stage of an application under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980, the court should conduct a…

A child who is a ward of court may not be removed from England and Wales without the court’s prior permission, even where every person with parental…

In financial remedy proceedings, a notional reattribution or add-back requires clear evidence of dissipation with a wanton element. Suspicion, disputed…

An incoming application to modify a maintenance decision under the Maintenance Regulation must be made through the Central Authorities under Chapter VII. A…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success, even though the prospect is materially below a…

The use of Children Act 1989 section 20 to accommodate a very young baby should be exceptional. Removal should ordinarily be for no more than a matter of days…

Parental responsibility and contact arrangements for a child conceived through home donation must be determined by the child’s welfare and the individual…

In a non-Convention summary-return application, the child’s welfare remains paramount. The court must make a swift, realistic and unsentimental assessment of…

Where a property is held under an express trust, an alleged later oral agreement altering the beneficial ownership must be analysed according to the rules…

A foreign judgment may create an issue estoppel where it is final and conclusive on the merits, made by a competent court, concerns the same parties, and…

In financial relief proceedings, current market value and finality are important considerations, but neither imposes an inflexible rule. Where shares cannot be…

The court may grant interim relief concerning property where a question about that property may arise on an application, including an enforcement application.…