High Court: Family Division judgments, 2017

In care proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving each disputed fact on the balance of probabilities. The court must apply the binary…

Jurisdiction to determine child-arrangements issues may continue where proceedings were commenced while the child was habitually resident in England and Wales…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, a child’s objection to return is a factual gateway, distinct from a preference, requiring a straightforward and robust…

In applications concerning legal parenthood following assisted reproduction, an obvious clerical error in a consent form may be corrected as a matter of…

In determining contact arrangements, the child’s welfare and safety remain paramount. The statutory presumption that parental involvement furthers welfare is…

A false address in a divorce petition may amount to material deception even where the petitioner may otherwise have satisfied the jurisdictional requirements.…

In a Hague Convention child-abduction case, a child’s objection to return opens a discretion; it does not determine the result. The court must consider the…

Adoption is a last resort. A placement order should be made only where the child’s welfare throughout life requires it and nothing else will do. The court must…

A child’s forename and surname are important aspects of identity. An order changing them must be determined by the child’s welfare, including present and…

Permission to withdraw care proceedings must be granted where the local authority cannot establish the threshold under Children Act 1989, s 31(2). Allegations…

Recognition of a foreign adoption requires satisfaction of four criteria: the adopters’ domicile in the foreign country when the order was made; legal adoption…

In an international relocation case, the court must make a holistic, non-linear comparative evaluation of the competing proposals, applying the child’s…

A court may make a global spousal periodical payments order which provides a financial benefit to children, provided the order contains a substantial element…

In financial remedy proceedings, publication of settlement offers and information concerning the former matrimonial home may be restrained where publication…

A declaration of parentage is determined on the balance of probabilities, but the court must be satisfied that the evidence, including scientific evidence, is…

In an adoption application concerning an adult who reached 18 during the proceedings, the statutory welfare test continued to apply, but it had to be adapted…

Under section 48 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the interim gateway is distinct from the final determination of capacity. The court requires evidence giving…

Financial relief may be determined in a party’s absence where the party has reasonable notice of the application and hearing, and the circumstances justify…

In a fact-finding hearing concerning suspected non-accidental injury, the local authority bears the burden of proving causation and perpetration on the balance…

Expert evidence in financial remedy proceedings may be permitted only where it is necessary to assist the court to resolve the proceedings. Evidence that is…

When a party seeks to withdraw an application under the 1980 Hague Convention, the court must apply the overriding objective in the FPR 2010. An agreed…

A secure accommodation order under Children Act 1989, s 25 is a measure of last resort. The statutory conditions are disjunctive, so satisfaction of either…

In an Article 11(6)–(8) Brussels II(a) application following a Hague Convention non-return decision, the court may determine custody and welfare as if the…

A female genital mutilation protection order may be made where, on the balance of probabilities, a girl faces a substantial risk of FGM outside England and…

Where a royal will has been sealed, the court may authorise limited disclosure without reopening it to public inspection. A request for copies may be dealt…

In determining the placement of children subject to care proceedings, the court must undertake a rigorous, case-specific comparison of the realistic options.…

In deciding whether invasive life-sustaining treatment should be given to a child, the court must make an objective assessment of that child’s best interests…

Under section 24 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, an application by a parent to revoke a placement order requires a two-stage approach. The court must…

In financial remedy proceedings, the court may draw adverse inferences from a party’s failure to call evidence within that party’s knowledge, particularly…

Service of a collection order is fundamental to committal proceedings for its breach. It is required both by FPR 37.5 and by the terms of the collection order…

Decrees obtained through deception concerning a party’s address and the court’s jurisdiction may be set aside as void, and the underlying petitions dismissed.…

In determining whether protective orders are required against the risk of female genital mutilation, the court must apply the civil standard of proof and treat…

Habitual residence is a factual, child-focused inquiry into integration within a social and family environment. The court considers stability, practical…

An interlocutory appeal should not be used to rehearse the merits of a substantive appeal that is due to be heard shortly. Where the substantive issues remain…

In determining a child’s long-term placement, the court must treat the child’s welfare throughout life as paramount and give proper weight to the harm caused…

A High Court judge may review and, where appropriate, set aside an interlocutory return order made under the inherent jurisdiction, even where no error by the…

A child under 16 may be competent to consent to accommodation, placement for adoption or adoption. Competence is decision-specific and child-specific. The…

In an application for the return of children under the Hague Convention, an Article 13(b) defence must be assessed holistically. The court must consider the…

An adoption order is intended to be final and lifelong. Revocation is therefore highly exceptional and requires the High Court to exercise its inherent…

In proceedings under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, where allegations of abuse create a disputed Article 13(b)…

In summary-return proceedings under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980, wrongful retention is assessed by…

Where proceedings in England and another country concern related questions, a stay is not justified merely because the foreign court is concerned with the…

A solicitor may be restrained from acting against a former or prospective client where confidential or privileged information was imparted in contemplation of…

Under the Brussels IIa Regulation, habitual residence is a factual inquiry into a child’s integration in a social and family environment. It concerns stability…

Recognition of an overseas divorce may be refused where the spouse received neither reasonable notice of the proceedings nor a reasonable opportunity to…

Intention to become a legal parent is insufficient where the statutory scheme requires written consent given before treatment. The decisive question is whether…

A court of co-ordinate jurisdiction cannot grant declaratory relief declaring unlawful a judicial act of a High Court judge. Sections 7 to 9 of the Human…

In family proceedings concerning a child, costs do not ordinarily follow the event. A costs order is exceptional and requires litigation or conduct that is…

In fact-finding proceedings concerning alleged domestic abuse and parental conflict, disputed facts must be decided on the balance of probabilities. Evidence…

An appeal in a children case requires permission and will succeed only where the first-instance judge was wrong or there was a serious procedural or other…

An earlier family fact-finding decision may be reopened where later evidence gives solid grounds for believing that the findings may be flawed or incomplete. A…

Procedural fairness remains essential even where the evidence overwhelmingly establishes the statutory threshold for intervention. Under the Mental Capacity…

The Family Court has all the powers of the High Court. Its power to make financial remedy orders is therefore not confined to the literal terms of the…

Article 15 of Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003 is an exceptional jurisdictional mechanism. Transfer requires affirmative answers to three separate questions…

Contempt for breach of a court order requires proof of deliberate disobedience to an order that clearly states what must be done or avoided and carries a…

Where a local authority seeks to deprive a child of liberty because no approved secure accommodation is available, the safeguards associated with Children Act…

In determining an application to relocate children, the court must assess welfare by balancing all relevant factors and selecting the best available option.…

Article 15 of Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003 is an exceptional mechanism for transferring proceedings concerning parental responsibility to another Member…

Child arrangements must be determined by the child’s welfare and the statutory welfare factors. A parent’s biological relationship is important but does not…

The court may make a costs order against a third party where that party’s conduct has unnecessarily or unreasonably increased the claimant’s costs. The…

In a Hague Convention return application, the court must assess the alleged risk at its highest where the allegations are prima facie credible, and then…

In a long-running private-law children case, a court may adopt a robust and summary approach only where the relevant issues have recently been properly and…

In sentencing for contempt of court, the court must mark disapproval of disobedience and seek future compliance. Available options include no order, a fine…

In committal proceedings where imprisonment is at stake, the interests of justice ordinarily require the respondent to have legal representation. If the…

A pending asylum claim prevents implementation of a return order under the 1980 Hague Convention, and a grant of asylum is an absolute bar to making or…

Habitual residence is a question of fact. A child may lose habitual residence in one country before acquiring it in another, although that will be unusual. The…

An order under Children Act 1989, section 25, is a measure of last resort. The court must be satisfied that the statutory predictive conditions are met and…

Section 54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 requires a parental-order application to be made by two qualifying applicants. A single…

A child’s detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 does not prevent the court making or continuing a care order. The court may approve the local authority’s…

A committal court may enforce a contact order where the respondent had actual knowledge of its requirements and deliberately failed to comply. The court must…

In determining competing applications concerning children living in different countries, the court must treat welfare as paramount and give real weight to the…

An application to vary periodical payments must address genuine changes since the original order. It cannot operate as a disguised appeal or reopen findings…

Where a child’s existing custodial or secure placement cannot safely and lawfully continue, the responsible agencies must secure an appropriate alternative…

When a child presents extreme and continuing risks of suicide and self-harm, the authorities must pursue an effective, realistic and safe placement plan…

An application to remove children temporarily to a non-Hague Convention country requires a careful welfare assessment. The court must be positively satisfied…

Permission to appeal in children proceedings requires a real prospect of success or another compelling reason. An appeal may succeed only where the…

Adoption is appropriate only where no realistic and proportionate alternative will meet the child’s welfare needs. The court must evaluate whether identified…

Applications to restrain publication concerning children require an intense, fact-sensitive balancing of the competing rights under articles 8 and 10 of the…

Where a same-sex partner signs a fertility-treatment consent form alongside the birth mother, the court must assess the document in its factual and statutory…

In an urgent medical-treatment application concerning a child, the court’s paramount consideration is the child’s best interests. The court must exercise its…

On an application to revisit an earlier best-interests decision concerning a child’s medical treatment, the court should alter its decision only on the basis…

Family proceedings must be actively and effectively managed. The court must set a realistic timetable, give clear directions and prevent avoidable delay. In…

In committal proceedings for contempt, the applicant must prove the alleged breach to the criminal standard. A court may rely on the surrounding circumstances…

An injunction restraining publication of confidential material from family proceedings may continue after those proceedings end and after the child reaches…

Where a family court authorises a closed material procedure and a Special Advocate is required, the agency that holds and relies on the sensitive material may…

A declaration of status cannot be granted merely by consent or concession. The court must examine the relevant facts in the light of the applicable law…

In deciding whether to return a child to a foreign jurisdiction, the court must assess the practical safeguards available to protect the child’s welfare and…

An adoption order may be set aside only on a properly established ground such as a failure of natural justice or fraud by which the order was obtained. Serious…

In determining serious medical treatment for an incapable child, the court must make an objective assessment of the child’s best interests. Welfare is…

Recognition of a foreign adoption at common law is governed by four criteria: the adopters’ domicile in the foreign country, compliance with foreign law…

When deciding whether to make a final care order, the court must be satisfied that the threshold criteria are met and that the order is in the child’s best…

In determining a child’s best interests in relation to serious medical treatment, the court must consider the child as a whole. That includes the right to…

In an urgent serious-medical-treatment application concerning a child, the court must determine the child’s best interests from the child’s assumed point of…

Committal for contempt has an essentially criminal character. The applicant must prove deliberate disobedience to the criminal standard, and suspicion or…

A final care order may be made even where the child is detained following a criminal conviction. The detention does not prevent the order, although the…

Section 100 of the Children Act 1989 provides an exceptional, residual route for cases involving children subject to care orders where the statutory framework…

Under the Hague Convention, a child wrongfully retained after a temporary visit should ordinarily be returned promptly. Consent to permanent removal or…

A trust is not a sham merely because it is artificial or motivated partly by asset protection. The party alleging sham must prove that the settlor and trustee…

In an application under the 1980 Hague Convention, the Article 13(b) exception requires the respondent to establish a grave risk of harm or an intolerable…

For jurisdiction under Brussels IIR, habitual residence is determined by evaluating the child’s integration in a social and family environment at the date the…

In determining disputes about a child’s nationality, contact and temporary removal from the jurisdiction, the court must treat the child’s welfare as paramount…

Where the future care of a child is disputed, the court should determine the child arrangements and identify the principal carer before deciding an application…

In proceedings concerning a child’s possible return to a foreign country, the court may permit further expert evidence and defer final determination where the…

In proceedings alleging radicalisation, extremist beliefs and a risk of removal to a war zone, the local authority bears the burden of proving the pleaded…

An English Family Court may entertain an adoption application concerning Scottish children placed in England, irrespective of the children’s habitual…

In exceptionally rare circumstances, the court may dispense with identifying or notifying a putative father and extended family before adoption proceedings…

A court may investigate matters arising during proceedings which fall outside the case previously put to a witness only if the process remains procedurally…

When deciding whether to make a child arrangements order, the court must ask whether making the order would be better for the child than making no order. The…

At a family fact-finding hearing, allegations must be proved by the party making them on the balance of probabilities. Findings must rest on evidence and…

A family court may set aside an order obtained by duress, but this is a strong and exceptional remedy requiring utmost care. Ordinary pressure associated with…

On an appeal from a discretionary financial remedy decision, an appellant must show that the discretion miscarried by an error of principle, reliance on…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, an alleged grave risk must be assessed prospectively and in light of available protective measures. The court may assume the…

Under Article 12 of the Maintenance Regulation, a court must stay proceedings where proceedings between the same parties, involving the same cause of action…

Under paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to the Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973, matrimonial proceedings may be stayed where foreign proceedings…

In care proceedings, very late challenges to negative viability assessments, or late identification of family members as potential carers, should be permitted…

Where first-instance adoption proceedings have concluded, the adoption order should ordinarily be sealed and dated on the date of judgment, even if an appeal…

Where fertility-treatment consent documents contain clerical or paperwork errors, the statutory requirements must be assessed in substance and in the light of…

Wardship does not give a child immunity from the ordinary exercise of statutory powers by another public authority. The wardship court cannot intervene on the…

In an adoption application involving a person with a foreign element, notice should be given to the Home Office where the order may affect, or materially…

On an appeal concerning variation of matrimonial periodical payments, the appellate court should not interfere with a trial judge’s assessment of income…

In care proceedings concerning an older child, where the threshold is established and the child’s welfare requires continuing support during the transition to…

Repeated applications that are incoherent, abusive or plainly unsustainable may be struck out. Nevertheless, constitutional limits govern restrictions on…

Where an order expressly requires a party to pay reasonable costs of an application, the assessing court may assess costs incurred in related proceedings in…

Where an order directs one party to pay another’s costs and reserves any dispute about quantum, the court may summarily assess the costs rather than direct…

The inherent jurisdiction may protect a vulnerable adult who retains mental capacity where coercion, undue influence, constraint or other circumstances impair…

A Family Court cannot determine the merits of a child’s refugee status or order return to another jurisdiction while refugee status granted by the Secretary of…

Permission to appeal requires a real prospect of success or another compelling reason for the appeal to be heard. A certificate for a leapfrog appeal requires…

Permission to take children temporarily to a non-Hague Convention country depends on their welfare. The court must assess the risk of non-return, the…

An application may be struck out where its factual basis is self-evidently impossible and the claim is therefore wholly nonsensical. The court may rely on…

Where fertility treatment was undertaken jointly, with informed consent and a shared intention that both partners would be legal parents, defective or…

Where a judicial review claimant obtains all the relief sought, the claimant is ordinarily entitled to recover the costs, unless there is a good reason to…

Where a child lacks capacity and parents and clinicians disagree about medical treatment, the court must exercise independent and objective judgment on the…

Applications issued in breach of an extended civil restraint order are automatically struck out or dismissed under the applicable practice direction and are…

Under Article 13(b) of the Hague Convention, the court must assess realistically the circumstances in which children would return, including whether they would…

Under the Hague Convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction, rights of custody may be vested in a foreign court once proceedings…

An order for the summary return of children under the Hague Convention may be set aside where there has been a subsequent and sufficient change in…

In financial remedy proceedings, the court will normally apply English law despite foreign connections. A limited sideways consideration of foreign law may be…

Under Articles 3 and 5 of the Hague Convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction, a prohibited steps order may attribute rights of custody…

Consent under Art. 13(a) of the Hague Convention must be clear and unequivocal. The court adopts a practical, family-focused assessment of the evidence, with…

Where an adult freely instructs that protective proceedings should end, the court may permit withdrawal and discharge continuing orders, while preserving the…

In a fact-finding hearing concerning future child contact, disputed facts are determined on the ordinary civil standard of the balance of probabilities. The…

Public interest immunity requires a structured three-stage assessment. The court must determine whether the material is relevant and disclosable, whether…

In a non-Hague Convention case, the court must determine habitual residence by a child-focused factual inquiry. The central question is the child’s degree of…

A dead body is not property, but the deceased’s personal representatives have the duty to arrange its proper disposal. Where competing persons are entitled to…

For the agreed fatherhood conditions to be satisfied, the court must determine whether each partner gave informed, written and signed consent, before…

The inherent jurisdiction does not empower the High Court to require a local authority to fund legal representation for a litigant who has been lawfully…

Where a child has been wrongfully removed, the court must order return under the applicable international abduction regime unless a recognised defence is…

In care proceedings, hearsay evidence is admissible, but its weight must be evaluated carefully in the context of the evidence as a whole. The court should…

In private-law child arrangements disputes, the child’s welfare remains paramount, regardless of the family’s structure or an adult’s status as a biological or…

On an appeal concerning a child’s schooling, the appellate court must not rehear the welfare decision. Permission requires a real prospect that the decision…

An application concerning the unsealing of a royal will must identify an intelligible legal and factual basis for the relief sought. It must disclose an…

When deciding whether to restrain a child’s temporary removal from the jurisdiction, the child’s welfare is paramount. The court must balance the benefits of…

Permission to appeal in Children Act proceedings requires a real prospect of success or another compelling reason. An appellate court does not rehear the…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, a parent’s right to veto a child’s international relocation may constitute a right of custody. A wrongful removal requires…

Human Rights Act 1998 claims arising alongside family proceedings are governed by the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, even where they are considered within…

A domicile of choice requires residence in a country together with an intention to reside there permanently or indefinitely. The court must assess the whole…

In a highly unusual private-law adoption case, the court must determine the child’s welfare throughout life by a comprehensive evaluation of the realistic…

In fact-finding proceedings concerning suspected induced illness, the local authority bears the burden of proving the alleged harm on the balance of…

The High Court’s inherent jurisdiction to protect British children living abroad is not confined to cases described as dire or exceptional. Its exercise…

In proceedings under the Hague Convention, the court held that a child wrongfully removed more than one year before the return application was physically and…

An overseas divorce satisfying the recognition conditions in the Family Law Act 1986 must be recognised unless a statutory ground for refusal is established.…

In proceedings concerning children retained abroad, the court must make reasonable efforts to obtain an objective account of their wishes and feelings. Those…

In determining whether invasive, potentially life-prolonging treatment should be withheld from a child lacking capacity, the court must decide whether the…

Heads of agreement reached in Schedule 1 proceedings will ordinarily establish the parties’ consensus, but the court retains responsibility for ensuring that…

Hair-strand testing is evidence within the wider evidential picture, not ordinarily determinative of drug use or abstinence. Expert results must be interpreted…

Where the threshold for a care order is satisfied, the court must still decide which order best serves the children’s welfare. A care order should be made only…

In financial remedy proceedings, privacy and freedom of expression must be balanced by an intense focus on the comparative importance of the competing rights…

A court may make a third-party costs order against the Lord Chancellor where the statutory costs regime does not apply and, in all the circumstances, such an…

When deciding whether a child should return to another country under a special guardianship arrangement, the child’s welfare is the paramount consideration…

In a non-Convention child-return case, a judicial protocol may guide the court but cannot displace the paramount welfare principle. Where the protocol’s strict…

In an Article 13(b) child-abduction application, the removing parent bears the burden of proving the defence on the balance of probabilities. The court must…

In determining whether life-sustaining treatment should be withheld from an incapacitated child, the court must make an independent and objective assessment of…

Where findings of domestic violence raise a real concern about the safety of child contact, direct face-to-face contact should not be ordered without an…

The High Court may exercise its nationality-based inherent jurisdiction over a British child outside England and Wales where the child requires the court’s…

In private-law welfare proceedings, the child’s welfare is paramount. Parenthood carries no presumption and has significance only as it contributes to welfare.…

When deciding between rehabilitation, foster care and adoption, the court must evaluate every realistic option against the children’s welfare throughout their…

The High Court may make a declaratory finding about a child’s age under its welfare jurisdiction where doing so provides necessary certainty for the child’s…

Where holders of parental responsibility disagree about vaccination, the court may determine the dispute under the appropriate jurisdiction. The child’s…

In an internal relocation case, the child’s welfare remains the paramount consideration. The court must evaluate the relocation holistically, including the…

Where there is a real prospect that notice of an application would enable a child to be re-abducted, the court may properly make a location order without…

The High Court may use its inherent jurisdiction urgently to protect children and buttress family proceedings, including by temporarily restricting publication…

A declaration of parentage may be granted where fertility-treatment paperwork contains a clinic error which prevents the intended parentage from taking legal…

Habitual residence is a question of fact determined from all the circumstances of the child’s life. The court must focus on the child’s actual situation…

Where assisted conception treatment was undertaken jointly by a woman and her male partner, and both intended him to be a legal parent, the statutory…

In determining legal parenthood under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, defects in prescribed consent forms do not necessarily invalidate…

A contempt arising from breach of a court order is ordinarily civil, even where the order concerns wardship. Criminal contempt in the wardship context is…

A Scottish permanence order granting authority for adoption must be recognised and given effect in England. Under Adoption and Children Act 2002, s 47(6)(a)…

On an application to vary periodical payments, the court must respond to the parties’ current financial realities while maintaining a fair balance between…

In determining a child’s welfare, the court must assess the whole of the child’s circumstances, giving proper weight to emotional needs and significant…