High Court: Family Division judgments, 2019

In a fact-finding hearing concerning suspected abusive head trauma, the court must determine disputed facts on the simple balance of probabilities. Serious…

In financial remedy proceedings, the court must give first consideration to the welfare of any minor child of the family. Where the parties’ relationship and…

Party autonomy in a separation agreement is an important consideration, but it does not prevent a later needs-based award where the agreement fails to meet…

The court must apply the same balance-of-probabilities standard to evidence from vulnerable witnesses as to all other evidence. Vulnerability may affect how…

In private-law children proceedings, a change of residence is determined by the child’s welfare, not by a heightened test that treats the remedy as a last…

In care proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving disputed facts on the balance of probabilities. Serious allegations do not alter that…

In a non-Convention child-abduction case, the court’s paramount consideration is the welfare of the individual children. The court may order summary return…

Where a parent with significant cognitive impairment cannot fairly understand or participate in public law proceedings without specialist support, the court…

In family fact-finding proceedings, the burden remains on the party making allegations, even where the opposing party declines to participate or offers to…

Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 does not permit an application for financial relief following a Jersey divorce. Jersey is part of…

In financial remedy proceedings, a concluded agreement is a matter of substantial weight, but it does not create an entitlement to an immediate or abbreviated…

In an appeal against a finding of sexual abuse in family proceedings, the appellate court must assess the reliability of the finding as a whole. Physical…

Committal for contempt requires proof, to the criminal standard, that the respondent deliberately breached a clear and properly served order, and that…

In care and placement proceedings, delay may be justified only where it is planned, purposeful and likely to promote the child’s welfare. Adoption requires the…

In Hague Convention proceedings, acquiescence is principally a question of fact concerning the wronged parent’s subjective state of mind. Negotiations for a…

Where a child dies intestate, the administrators of the estate have the duty and right to arrange the proper disposal of the body. Where administrators…

A final financial remedies order may be set aside for deliberate and dishonest non-disclosure where the concealed information deprived the other party of a…

In fact-finding care proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving disputed facts on the balance of probabilities. The court must evaluate the…

Habitual residence under the Hague Convention is a child-focused question of fact. The court must assess the child’s integration in a social and family…

Where a financial remedy order has been obtained by fraud, it should ordinarily be set aside. The burden lies on the fraudster to show that the fraud would not…

When deciding whether to continue reporting restrictions protecting children, the court must balance their Article 8 rights against the Article 10 rights of…

Where confidential or privileged documents are obtained improperly, the court must control their review and use, particularly where the owner is unrepresented…

In a Hague Convention return application, the court must determine whether return would expose the child to a grave risk of physical or psychological harm or…

In family fact-finding proceedings, the court’s task is to determine what happened on the balance of probabilities. It should not decide whether a criminal…

A person without a Gender Recognition Certificate must be treated under domestic law as having their birth sex. A marriage entered into before gender…

Disclosure of asylum material into private-law children proceedings is governed by a fact-sensitive balancing exercise. The court must weigh asylum…

Relocation applications are governed by the child’s best interests and the checklist in section 1(3) of the 1989 Act. There is no presumption in favour of the…

An adult with decision-making capacity may refuse food and life-saving treatment, even where the decision is unwise or likely to result in death. For a…

Leave to seek financial relief under Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 requires a substantial, or solid, ground. The jurisdiction is…

Procedural non-compliance with statutory preconditions to an intercountry adoption application is not necessarily fatal. The court should examine the…

A local authority’s duty to investigate extended-family placement options is welfare-based and holistic, but it is not absolute. Where the evidence shows that…

An interim maintenance order made pending suit may be varied only where a serious and material change of circumstances is clearly proved by full and compelling…

In proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention, the court’s task is procedural: to secure the prompt return of a wrongfully removed child so that welfare…

In determining medical treatment for a child, the court’s paramount consideration is the child’s best interests. The assessment is broad and fact-specific. It…

In international relocation cases, the child’s welfare remains the paramount consideration. The court must apply the statutory welfare checklist and undertake…

Committal proceedings may proceed in a respondent’s absence where the court is satisfied that the respondent has been properly served, knows of the hearing…

A tort claim arising from alleged paternity fraud may exist between spouses, including in relation to intimate matters. However, where the parties are already…

Irreversible cessation of brain-stem function constitutes death for legal purposes. The loss of consciousness alone is insufficient, because patients in a…

In proceedings under the inherent jurisdiction to protect a vulnerable adult, costs remain a matter for judicial discretion. The general rule that the…

The court may impose a general civil restraint order where a litigant persists in making applications that are totally without merit and an extended order is…

Applications to remove children from the jurisdiction are governed by the ordinary welfare principle. There is no presumption for or against relocation. The…

At the return date of a without-notice freezing order, the court may continue injunctive relief where the grounds for granting it remain valid and subsequent…

On an application for temporary removal of a child to a non-Hague Convention country, the child’s welfare remains the overriding consideration. The court…

In Hague Convention child-abduction proceedings, the Article 13(b) defence requires proof of a grave risk that return would expose the child to physical or…

In private-law proceedings concerning a child’s residence, the court must determine the outcome by a comprehensive assessment of welfare under Children Act…

Interim provision under section 5 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 requires proof of an applicant’s immediate need. The…

In matrimonial proceedings, non-compliance with service rules does not automatically render a decree void. The court must examine the nature of the procedural…

For interim relief under Insolvency Act 1986, section 423, it is sufficient to show a good arguable case that a transaction was made for one purpose of putting…

The inherent jurisdiction may protect an adult who has capacity where external factors have compromised the ability to make a free and genuine decision.…

A family court may make a female genital mutilation protection order to protect a child, including where removal would expose the child to risk. But it has no…

A person’s gender and parental status are distinct legal concepts. At common law, the person who carries a pregnancy and gives birth is the child’s mother…

Fact-finding in family proceedings must remain proportionate and focused on matters relevant to the children’s welfare. Each allegation must be proved on the…

The statutory functions of Cafcass are confined to family proceedings concerning the welfare of the child or children who are the subject of those proceedings.…

On a judgment summons for breach of a financial remedy order, the applicant must prove to the criminal standard that the respondent had the means to pay and…

In an interim welfare decision concerning a child retained abroad, the child’s welfare is the paramount consideration. The court is not required to defer to…

The inherent jurisdiction may protect a vulnerable adult whose ability to make a relevant decision has been compromised by constraint, coercion, undue…

The inherent jurisdiction may protect a wider class of vulnerable adults, including on an interim basis while capacity and vulnerability are investigated.…

In determining medical treatment for a child, the court’s guiding principle is the child’s best interests. That assessment may require authorising highly…

In determining questions about disclosure of disputed paternity, the child’s best interests remain paramount. Disclosure should be managed at the child’s pace…

The High Court may use its inherent jurisdiction to protect a vulnerable adult, including an adult who is not incapacitated under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success, or where another compelling reason exists, including…

In determining whether to authorise medical treatment for a child, the court must treat the child’s welfare as paramount and decide the matter from the child’s…

A Hadkinson order is an exceptional and proportionate remedy. It may prevent a party from pursuing an appeal where that party is in clear and continuing…

The High Court has declaratory jurisdiction in family proceedings. That jurisdiction derives from the statutory preservation of the High Court’s pre-existing…

In an urgent best-interests application concerning life-saving treatment for a child, the court may authorise treatment where parental consent cannot be given…

Under Part III of the Family Law Act 1986, a declaration that a marriage “did not subsist” concerns the continuation of a marriage which previously existed. It…

A judge who has conducted a financial dispute resolution appointment is mandatorily precluded from further involvement in the application, subject only to the…

When deciding whether a child should remain in a therapeutic residential placement or return to parental care, the court must undertake a full comparative…

When deciding whether to impose or maintain a Female Genital Mutilation Protection Order, the court must assess the real risk of FGM and separately justify…

Where a child is habitually resident in England and Wales, that court has jurisdiction under Art 8(1) of Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003, even if the…

Under Article 11(7) of Brussels II Revised, following a non-return order made under Article 13 of the 1980 Hague Convention, the court of the child’s habitual…

Findings made at an earlier fact-finding hearing in continuing care proceedings are not immutable. Fresh evidence should be considered alongside the earlier…

Arbitration awards are intended to be final. Section 57 of the Arbitration Act 1996 permits correction of clerical mistakes, accidental slips or omissions…

Section 20 accommodation is a valuable voluntary mechanism, but it must not be used as an alternative to public law proceedings or to delay them where care…

An earning capacity or future income stream is not matrimonial property capable of being shared. Subject to rare compensation cases, periodical payments must…

An anonymity order may be relaxed where information about a claimant has already been deliberately placed in the public domain. The court must balance the…

In care and placement proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving the facts on the balance of probabilities. The seriousness of an allegation…

Permission to appeal requires a realistic prospect of success, rather than a fanciful one. An appellate court should not grant permission merely because a…

The court may authorise alternative service, including service by email outside the jurisdiction, where the procedural rules permit it and the method brings…

The welfare of the child is paramount when deciding whether and when to disclose disputed paternity. The starting point is that a child should learn the truth…

Under Part 4A of the Family Law Act 1996, the court must distinguish between a threatened forced marriage and a marriage alleged already to have occurred. A…

In care proceedings, the court must assess the totality of the evidence on the balance of probabilities. Serious allegations do not alter that standard.…

In care proceedings involving risks arising from parental support for violent extremism, a care order may be necessary and proportionate even where children…

A separation agreement may carry substantial weight where it was freely negotiated, each party had legal advice, and each understood its intended effect. Lack…

When a child lacks capacity and parental consent to proposed medical treatment is absent, the court may authorise treatment if it is objectively in the child’s…

A court may authorise life-saving medical treatment for a child who has capacity to understand the treatment but refuses it. The controlling consideration is…

Where an application is issued in the Family Division but governed by the Civil Procedure Rules, parties should prepare hearing bundles in accordance with FPR…

A child placed in Scotland may be deprived of liberty for the purposes of Art 5 of the ECHR even where the placement is not locked, if the arrangements involve…

In committal proceedings, an injunction carrying penal consequences must be construed with particular precision. Where an order prohibits the use of offensive…

An appellate court must assess a family judgment as a whole and should not interfere with factual evaluations unless a clear and substantial error is…

In exceptional financial-remedy cases, a court may adjourn a spouse’s capital claim where justice requires it and there is a realistic prospect that funds will…

A parent’s philosophical objection does not displace the statutory duty to register a child’s birth. The duty under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953…

In determining a child’s interim welfare, the court must treat welfare as paramount and give proper weight to delay, parental involvement, the child’s needs…

Robust case management must not become undue acceleration. On an important status issue, the parties must have sufficient time to prepare evidence, investigate…

In a fact-finding exercise under the Children Act 1989, the local authority must prove each alleged inflicted injury on the balance of probabilities. Where the…

Where a child habitually resident in England and Wales is wrongfully retained in a non-member State, the court may retain jurisdiction under Article 10 of BIIa…

Where an application is intended to be supplemental to foreign recognition and enforcement proceedings, the court should first establish that those proceedings…

The High Court cannot use its inherent jurisdiction to authorise a local authority to place a child in secure accommodation where the child is not “looked…

Disclosure of asylum materials in Hague Convention proceedings requires a proportionality assessment, not an exceptionality test. The court must balance the…

In a financial remedy case involving a private company, the court may value the business on the balance of probabilities, but it is not required to pursue…

In care proceedings involving suspected inflicted injury, the local authority must prove the statutory threshold on the balance of probabilities. The court…

Under CPR 3.1(2)(m), the court’s power to hear an Early Neutral Evaluation does not clearly extend to compelling unwilling parties to participate. The rule is…

On an application for summary return under article 12 of the 1980 Hague Convention, the article 13(b) exception requires a grave risk of harm or an intolerable…

When deciding whether a medical procedure should be undertaken for a child, the court must focus on the child’s best interests. Parental faith and objections…

In determining child arrangements, the children’s welfare is paramount. A placement with a parent and that parent’s partner may be ordered where the evidence…

Habitual residence is a question of fact centred on the child. The court must assess whether the child has achieved some degree of integration in a social and…

Habitual residence under the 1980 Hague Convention is determined by the child’s degree of integration in a social and family environment. Stability, rather…

A document is a sham where the parties share an intention that it should create the appearance of legal rights and obligations different from those they…

At the leave stage under Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984, “substantial ground” means a solid ground. The threshold is higher than a serious issue…

In determining whether adoption should replace long-term foster care, the court must treat the child’s welfare throughout life as paramount. Adoption requires…

A party who abandoned, or expressly agreed not to resist striking out, a claim in earlier financial remedy proceedings cannot ordinarily revive that claim…

In proceedings concerning a vulnerable adult, habitual residence is assessed by reference to all the circumstances existing at the time of assessment. The…

In care proceedings following the murder of one parent by the other, a subsisting criminal conviction is admissible under the Civil Evidence Act 1968 and is…

In a summary-return application under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, a respondent relying on Article 13(b) bears…

Even where parties agree that a care order should be made, the court must independently determine whether the order meets the child’s welfare needs. Relevant…

Under Article 13 of the 1980 Hague Convention, consent before retention and subsequent acquiescence require the same quality of actual agreement. The issue is…

Under Article 13(b) of the Hague Convention, the party opposing return must establish a grave risk of physical or psychological harm or an intolerable…

A change of a child’s residence is not subject to a distinct or enhanced welfare test merely because it is described as a “last resort” or “draconian” remedy.…

A judge may change a decision before the order is sealed, but the overriding objective remains the just determination of the case. A change of position without…

The High Court may exercise its nationality-based inherent jurisdiction to protect a British child abroad where the child requires that protection, although…

A property-transfer order made in financial remedy proceedings ordinarily requires transfer of the legal title unless it expressly limits the transfer to a…

An appellate court reviewing fact-finding in allegations of child sexual abuse must exercise substantial restraint. It may intervene where clear and…

An appellate court must review the judgment as a whole and should not substitute its own welfare evaluation for that of the trial judge. It should interfere…

In fact-finding proceedings, the local authority bears the burden of proving both the threshold criteria and the facts sought on the balance of probabilities.…

An application to purge contempt may be granted where the contemnor gives a genuine and unconditional apology, undertakes future compliance, and takes…

Permission to withdraw proceedings under rule 29.4 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 requires the court to survey all the circumstances and deal with the case…

In a summary application for return under the Hague Convention, consent to relocation must be clear and unequivocal. General remarks such as permission to do…

On a judgment summons for maintenance arrears, the court retains an independent discretion whether to commit a contemnor to prison. An agreement by the…

An appeal is ordinarily a continuation or further stage of the proceedings at first instance. Where a child already has a children’s Guardian, the child must…

Under Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984, the court may grant financial relief where substantial connections with England and Wales…

In determining applications concerning a child’s surname and disclosure of identifying information, the child’s welfare is paramount and the court must apply…

In family proceedings, judicial communications with a guardian or other independent representative must be conducted openly and transparently. Communications…

Permission to appeal from a fact-finding decision should be refused where the judgment, read with its context, shows a fair hearing and findings reasonably…

An interim care or supervision order cannot endure beyond a child’s seventeenth birthday, or beyond marriage where the child is aged sixteen. Section 38 of the…

Habitual residence for family-jurisdiction purposes requires permanence or stability, a centre of interests in the territory, and the loss of any former…

An adoption order may be revoked under the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction only in highly exceptional and particular circumstances. The court must ask…

A confidentiality injunction protecting a person from a real risk of serious violence or death is not automatically discharged because some information may…

A stay of wardship proceedings requires the applicant to show that England is not the natural forum and that the foreign forum is clearly more appropriate. The…

The court’s inherent jurisdiction should not be used to bypass a detailed statutory regime governing publication and postponement. Under section 4(2) of the…

In financial remedy proceedings, needs must be assessed by reference to all the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 section 25 factors. They are not determined by the…

In proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention, the court must determine the child’s habitual residence and whether removal was wrongful before considering any…

In determining whether life-sustaining treatment should be provided to a child, the court must decide whether the proposed treatment is in the child’s best…

On an application for permission to make a children application while a Children Act 1989 section 91(14) restriction is in force, the court may initially…

In committal proceedings, the court may waive procedural defects where justice permits, but relief is not automatic. The central question is whether waiver…

In committal proceedings, the applicant must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the respondent disobeyed a clear order and had the ability to comply. The order…

Where a child who is a ward of court has been abducted abroad and cannot be located, the court may seek diplomatic assistance to enable the child’s location…

In contempt proceedings, the applicant must prove each alleged breach to the criminal standard. The application must identify each act of contempt separately…

Applications for temporary removal of a child for holidays must be determined by the child’s welfare. The court should assess the magnitude of any risk of…

Permission to bring a claim out of time under section 4 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 requires a qualitative assessment of…

A return order conditional on the mother obtaining permission to enter the requesting state does not become operative, or capable of implementation, until that…

The inherent jurisdiction may protect a capacitous adult where coercion, undue influence or other disabling circumstances prevent a genuinely free and informed…

An FGM protection order should be made only where it is necessary and proportionate to protect a girl from a real and immediate risk of female genital…

Restricting a parent’s disclosure, participation or party status in family proceedings is an exceptional, fact-specific step. The court must identify, evaluate…

Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention is a narrow exception to the duty to return a wrongfully removed child. The opposing parent bears the burden of…

In a Hague Convention return application, the court must assess the situation the child would actually face on return, including the effectiveness of proposed…

An application to vary a non-molestation order should be assessed against the protected person’s genuine and current wishes, where those wishes are clearly…

For the purposes of ss 43 and 44 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, the decisive requirement is written consent, signed before the relevant…

Under article 10 of Brussels II Revised, jurisdiction may be retained in England and Wales after a child has been wrongfully removed or retained in a…

Under article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, the risk must be grave, but its source is irrelevant.…

Contact between a child and a non-resident parent or sibling should be terminated only in exceptional circumstances, as a last resort, and after the court has…

Permission to appeal requires a real, rather than fanciful, prospect of success or another compelling reason for the appeal to be heard. An appeal will succeed…

Termination of parent-child contact is a last resort. The court must consider all realistic measures capable of maintaining or reconstituting the relationship…

In an international relocation case, the court must undertake a holistic, non-linear and comparative evaluation of the competing welfare proposals. The Payne…

Where publicity is sought as a coercive measure in family proceedings, the court must determine whether the issue concerns the child’s upbringing. If it does…

A ward may give evidence in criminal or civil proceedings abroad: there is no presumption against permission merely because the proceedings are foreign. The…

Appeals against case-management decisions face a high threshold. The appellate court should intervene only for an error of principle, reliance on irrelevant…

Under the Hague Convention, a return order may direct return to a contracting state other than the child’s former state of habitual residence. Such an order is…

In family fact-finding proceedings, allegations must be proved by the party advancing them on the balance of probabilities. A lie may support an assessment of…