High Court: Family Division judgments, 2023

In summary-return proceedings under the inherent jurisdiction, the appropriate starting point is generally no order as to costs. An adverse order may…

An order directing jointly owned properties to be sold and the proceeds divided equally ordinarily gives each party a share of the eventual net proceeds…

In private-law children proceedings, a parent’s non-acceptance of a judicial finding does not, without more, justify reducing contact. The court must assess…

Where a child is deprived of liberty, the court must ensure that the arrangements satisfy Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Detention…

Habitual residence is determined by the child’s degree of integration in a social and family environment, assessed globally and from the child’s perspective.…

The court may revoke a father’s parental responsibility where, having regard to the child’s welfare and the circumstances of the case, continuing parental…

Jurisdiction under the 1996 Hague Convention and the Family Law Act 1986 depends principally on the child’s habitual residence at the relevant date. Habitual…

In a child-relocation appeal, the court must assess the child’s welfare in the circumstances existing when the appeal is determined. Material changes after the…

Habitual residence is determined by a child-focused global assessment of the child’s actual integration into social and family environments. Parental intention…

When deciding whether to order the summary return of children to a non-Hague Convention country under the inherent jurisdiction, the child’s welfare is…

Applications to relax restrictions on publication in family proceedings require an evaluative balancing of the competing Art.8 and Art.10 rights. The…

In care proceedings, disputed allegations must be proved by the local authority on the balance of probabilities. The court must decide each allegation while…

In children proceedings, the usual order remains that there be no order as to costs. The court nevertheless retains a broad discretion under Family Procedure…

In private children proceedings, the court may proceed without a parent who fails to attend where the case has been substantially delayed, the available…

The High Court’s inherent jurisdiction may authorise the deprivation of a child’s liberty where the proposed arrangements satisfy the objective, subjective and…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, habitual residence is a child-focused question of fact. It turns on the child’s integration into a social and family…

On interim financial remedy applications, the court may draw robust assumptions about a payer’s resources where disclosure is obviously deficient. The…

For a person aged 16 or over, capacity must be assessed decision by decision under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. A person must not be treated as lacking…

Under Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention, a return may be ordered where protective measures sufficiently address the identified grave risk of harm. The…

In an application under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, an Article 13(b) defence requires proof of a grave…

In family fact-finding proceedings, propensity evidence is not subject to a complete prohibition. Its relevance depends on the facts. Evidence of established…

A court may proceed with committal proceedings in the respondent’s absence where the respondent has proper notice, understands the hearing and has deliberately…

Accredited journalists may be permitted to report ongoing private family proceedings where transparency serves a significant public interest, even if the…

In highly unusual circumstances, the court may permit an abducted child to return temporarily to the state of habitual residence before determination of a…

A person who disagrees with a family court order cannot treat that disagreement as justification for disobeying it. Where an order requires a child’s return…

Article 13(b) requires a two-stage assessment. The court must first decide whether the alleged circumstances create a grave risk of harm or an intolerable…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, a wrongful retention within one year requires the child’s prompt return unless the respondent establishes a limited exception.…

In a summary return application under the Hague Convention 1980, an Article 13(b) defence has restricted application. The respondent bears the ordinary…

Recognition of an overseas divorce may be refused where reasonable steps were not taken to notify the other spouse, judged by English standards while having…

In contempt proceedings arising from covert recording and publication of a private adoption hearing, deliberate defiance of statutory and procedural…

A discretionary stay of matrimonial proceedings may be granted where proceedings are continuing in another jurisdiction and that jurisdiction is clearly the…

In Hague Convention proceedings, consent to removal is a fact-specific exception which must be proved by the removing parent. It must be real, clear and…

Where several persons have equal entitlement to a grant of administration, the court has a broad discretion to select one or more applicants, taking the…

In family proceedings involving sensitive material, the court may adopt a closed material procedure where consideration of the closed material is necessary to…

Maintenance may, in an appropriate case, be ordered even though the payer must borrow to make the payments. Relevant circumstances may include a debt that is…

The power to set aside a return order under the 1980 Hague Convention is exceptional. It requires proof of a fundamental change of circumstances which…

A court may intervene in a child in care’s forename only in a rare and extreme case where there is reasonable cause to believe that continued use of the name…

Where a court has authorised withdrawal of invasive treatment, a subsequent dispute about the location and timing of extubation concerns the implementation of…

Contempt of an order requiring a parent to secure the return of children must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. The applicant need not identify a particular…

Under section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, financial remedy cases are not necessarily confined to needs or sharing. The court must consider all the…

Statutory reporting restrictions in private family proceedings may be supplemented under the court’s inherent jurisdiction, but any extension must be necessary…

When considering a parental order, the court must scrutinise the statutory consent requirements with exceptional care. Where a surrogate or her spouse cannot…

In Hague Convention proceedings, the relevant wrongful act must be identified before habitual residence is assessed. Where a child was taken abroad with…

The court may revisit a final welfare decision where there is no strict issue estoppel, but should loyally give effect to earlier findings. Reopening is…

Under the Hague Convention, a child’s habitual residence is a question of fact centred on the child’s integration in the social and family environment. A…

When deciding whether a child should be deprived of liberty, the court must assess the child’s best interests and the State’s positive obligations under…

Recognition of a foreign child-protection measure under the 1996 Hague Convention operates by law unless an Article 23(2) ground for refusal is established.…

Following a non-return decision under the 1980 Hague Convention, habitual residence remains a factual question. The court must conduct a global assessment of…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, habitual residence is a child-focused question of fact. The court assesses the circumstances of the child’s life and degree of…

A Dispute Resolution Appointment may resolve or narrow issues, but it cannot produce a final order where a party continues to contest the evidence, seeks a…

Covertly recording a family-court hearing without permission constitutes contempt under section 9(1)(a) of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 where the recording…

In proceedings under the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 and the 1980 Hague Convention, a child’s objection to return creates a discretion but does not…

A court exercising the inherent jurisdiction cannot compel clinicians or public authorities to detain a child under the Mental Health Act 1983. However, the…

Contempt of court must be proved to the criminal standard. In sentencing for contempt, the court must address both punishment for non-compliance and securing…

Routine vaccination of a child in care is generally in the child’s best interests. A parent seeking to restrain vaccination must provide cogent, objective…

Under Article 22 of the 1996 Hague Convention, the law designated by Chapter III may be refused where its application would be manifestly contrary to public…

Where the validity of a later marriage depends on whether an earlier overseas marriage was dissolved, the party relying on the dissolution bears the initial…

A Hadkinson order has no proper place in financial remedy proceedings before a final order. The court must investigate the parties’ financial circumstances and…

In medical-treatment cases concerning children, the court must make its own objective assessment of the child’s best interests. The assessment is holistic and…

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

In an application concerning termination of a pregnancy in a child lacking Gillick competence, the court must apply a two-stage process. First, two registered…

Permission to appeal against findings of fact in family proceedings should be granted only where the proposed appeal has a realistic prospect of success or…

The High Court’s inherent jurisdiction may authorise the deprivation of liberty of a competent, objecting 17-year-old accommodated under section 20(3) of the…

In an application for legal services funding under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989, the applicant must show that appropriate legal advice and…

In children proceedings, the general principle is that costs orders are inappropriate, but the court may depart from it where the circumstances justify a…

Accredited journalists and legal bloggers are ordinarily entitled to attend Family Court hearings held in private. Exclusion, or restrictions on reporting…

Habitual residence under Article 3 of the 1980 Hague Convention is a question of fact. The court must make an overall, comparative assessment of all relevant…

An appeal in a financial remedy case proceeds by way of review. The appellate court may intervene for an error of law, an evidentially unavailable finding…

A removal which was wrongful when it occurred remains wrongful for the purposes of Article 3 of the 1980 Hague Convention. A subsequent order by the court of…

Where brain stem death has been diagnosed and confirmed in accordance with the 2008 Code of Practice for the Diagnosis and Confirmation of Death, the legal…

Proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention are directed to the prompt return of a child to the jurisdiction of habitual residence, subject only to the…

A deprivation of liberty order cannot be used to authorise conditions which effectively place a child in secure accommodation merely because a placement…

In an application under the 1980 Hague Convention, consent requires clear and unequivocal consent before removal. Acquiescence concerns the left-behind…

In a financial-remedies appeal, identifying a case as one governed by needs does not require the court to satisfy both parties’ needs. The court must consider…

In committal proceedings, the court may proceed in a respondent’s absence where he has been properly served, understands the seriousness of the hearing, has…

A fact-finding judge may conclude that an allegation is proved, unproved, or false where the evidence permits. The court is not confined to a binary…

In a family fact-finding hearing, allegations must be determined on the balance of probabilities by reference to evidence, not speculation or rumour. The court…

A fact-finding hearing in children proceedings must be justified by its relevance to the children’s future welfare. It is not free-standing litigation or an…

In children proceedings, the ordinary practice remains that costs are not ordered against a party unless there has been reprehensible behaviour or an…

In a Hague Convention application, consent to relocation is a fact-sensitive question assessed objectively from all the circumstances. It need not be written…

On an application for permission to appeal in a financial remedy case, the court should apply the appellate standard appropriate to the nature of the…

Under Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention, the court must assess the concrete situation which would arise on an immediate return. The focus is the…

In a Hague Convention child-abduction application, acquiescence is a question of fact determined on the evidence as a whole. The court may consider relevant…

Applications to withhold notification of a child’s birth from a putative father or relatives require urgent, thorough and careful judicial scrutiny. The court…

Where children are wrongfully retained in a non-contracting state, the 1996 Hague Convention may require the courts of the contracting state of their former…

An application to set aside a financial remedy order is not an alternative to an appeal. Alleged lack of capacity or procedural unfairness caused by absent…

In determining child arrangements, the court must assess all the evidence cumulatively and make findings on the balance of probabilities, without relying on…

When a mother seeks confidentiality about a child who may be adopted, the court must investigate the facts and strike a fair balance between the competing…

In summary Hague Convention proceedings, an order for a child’s return may be set aside only where the applicant proves a fundamental change of circumstances…

In relocation and contact proceedings, parental alienation requires both unjustified resistance or hostility towards one parent and psychological manipulation…

In a private-law children fact-finding hearing, allegations must be proved by the party making them on the balance of probabilities. Findings must be based on…

Habitual residence is a question of fact requiring a global, child-focused assessment of integration in a social and family environment. The court must…

In care proceedings, disclosure of judgments and supporting documents to the press may be permitted where the public interest in informed scrutiny outweighs…

Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention is a narrowly confined exception. The court must focus on the future situation of the child on return and ask…

In an application under the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 and the 1980 Hague Convention, habitual residence is determined by the child’s degree of…

Section 51(2) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 may be read under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 so that a step-parent who was the partner of the…

Where a child is habitually resident in England and Wales, the Family Court ordinarily has jurisdiction to determine a child arrangements application under…

On an appeal from a financial remedy decision, the appellate court must review whether the lower court’s decision was wrong or unjust because of a serious…

In a domestic-abuse fact-finding hearing, the party making an allegation bears the burden of proving it on the balance of probabilities. Findings must be based…

In a summary-return application concerning a non-Hague Convention country, the court must decide the individual child’s best interests. Summary return is not…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, wrongful retention requires an agreed point for return. A fixed calendar date is unnecessary if return is tied to an…

The inherent jurisdiction should be used only exceptionally where a child-related issue should not be resolved under the Children Act 1989 or another…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, a child’s objection first requires a straightforward assessment of whether the child objects to return and has sufficient age…

In a disputed application concerning withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from a non-Gillick competent child, the court must determine the child’s best…

In determining a child’s best interests, the court must adopt an objective assessment from the child’s point of view and consider welfare in its widest sense.…

On a variation application under Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, the court need not reconsider the matter entirely afresh. The review must be proportionate…

A person may lack capacity to decide about nutrition even where they understand that refusal may cause death. Capacity is decision-specific and requires the…

Habitual residence under the 1980 Hague Convention is a factual, child-focused question. It turns on the child’s integration in a social and family…

A dispute about whether a child was looked after by a local authority, particularly where the dispute has financial consequences, will ordinarily be determined…

Rules governing disclosure of draft judgments under embargo should be clear and harmonised across the King’s Bench Division, Family Division and Crown Court.…

Consent to adoption may be dispensed with only where the child’s welfare throughout life requires adoption. The court must consider every realistically…

In summary return proceedings under the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985, a child’s return should ordinarily be ordered where wrongful removal and habitual…

On an appeal from domestic-abuse fact-finding proceedings, an appellate court must read the judgment as a whole and should interfere with factual findings only…

When deciding whether information from private family proceedings may be reported, the court must balance Articles 8 and 10 of the Convention through an…

In varying a nuptial settlement, the court must structure relief so that the claimant receives a fair share of matrimonial assets while obtaining appropriate…

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

The inherent jurisdiction may be used flexibly to protect children, but it is subject to constitutional limits. Where a comprehensive statutory scheme gives…

In a contested application for a Forced Marriage Protection Order, the court must establish the underlying facts, determine whether protection is needed…

Applications for internal relocation must be decided by applying the child’s welfare as the paramount consideration. The court must undertake a global and…

In care proceedings, the court must evaluate each realistic placement option globally and holistically. It must give proper weight to the benefits of family…

Section 48 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 is not confined to emergencies. Its three conditions must all be satisfied before an interim order is made: the…

A final costs order made by the High Court may, in principle, be varied or revoked under rule 4.1(6) of the Family Procedure Rules 2010. The power is limited…

On an application under the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction for the summary return of children to a non-Hague Convention country, the child’s welfare is…

In Hague Convention proceedings, a child’s objection is a gateway to a discretion, not a determinative defence. The court must assess the nature and strength…

Committal proceedings may proceed in the respondent’s absence where the court acts cautiously and ensures that the hearing remains fair and public. The court…

Where a financial remedy consent order has been procured by deliberate non-disclosure or fraudulent misrepresentation, the perpetrator bears the burden of…

A committal hearing may proceed in the respondent’s absence where the respondent has been properly served, had sufficient time to prepare, deliberately refuses…

In determining child-arrangements applications following findings of domestic abuse, the court must treat the child’s welfare as paramount and assess whether…

Disclosure of information from ongoing section 8 proceedings to the police is governed by Children Act 1989 section 12 and the exempting provisions in the…

Deliberate and flagrant breaches of family orders, including facilitating or maintaining the unlawful retention of abducted children, may justify imprisonment…

On an application under the inherent jurisdiction for the return of a child from a non-Hague Convention country, the child’s welfare is paramount. The court…

In family proceedings, the court has a broad discretion to make such costs order as it considers just, subject to the applicable provisions of the Family…

Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 requires a fact-sensitive assessment of jurisdiction and financial provision. The court must…

The High Court retains a protective, rather than custodial, inherent jurisdiction over a British national child living abroad. Its exercise requires great…

An assessment directed under section 38(6) of the Children Act 1989 must be an assessment of the child. It may include assessment of the child’s relationship…

In a fact-finding application, failures to follow investigative guidance do not automatically exclude evidence or prevent findings. They may, however…

In an application for summary return under Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, the court should ordinarily ask whether the allegations…

In a conventional child-maintenance assessment, the Child Maintenance Service formula may provide a useful starting point, but it is not binding and may be…

An agreement resolving financial remedy claims should generally be upheld if freely entered into with full appreciation of its implications, unless it would be…

Permission to appeal in financial-relief proceedings under Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 requires a real prospect of success or…

Under the Presumption of Death Act 2013, a declaration of presumed death may be sought before the expiry of seven years. The court must make the declaration…

A return order under the Hague Convention 1980 may be set aside without court error only in rare cases where new information produces a fundamental change in…

In determining child arrangements, the court must focus on the child’s welfare, while applying the statutory presumption that parental involvement furthers…

In summary-return proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention, the Article 13(b) defence requires a forward-looking assessment of the risk on return. The court…

Where domestic abuse has been established, the court must assess its impact on the child and both parents, and the risks arising from making a child…

In judgment-summons proceedings, the High Court may summon witnesses whose evidence may bear on the debtor’s means and on whether an existing lump-sum order…

In care proceedings, disputed allegations must be determined on evidence, applying the balance of probabilities. The court must consider each allegation…

Recognition of a foreign adoption at common law requires proof that the adopters were domiciled in the foreign country, the adoption was lawful under that…

Highly personal medical information attracts substantial weight under Art.8, but privacy is not absolute. Where the information is relevant to care…

In an application under Article 13(b) of the Hague Convention 1980, risk must be assessed by reference to the particular child, the proposed return, and the…

Applications for leave to issue proceedings while subject to a Children Act 1989 section 91(14) order require a relatively low threshold. The applicant must…

In a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, reasonable financial provision is assessed objectively. The question is…

In financial remedy proceedings, the court should identify the boundary between matrimonial and non-matrimonial property. Matrimonial property will usually be…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, the prompt return of a wrongfully retained child is mandatory unless an Article 13 defence is established. For Article 13(b)…

A pre-nuptial agreement should generally be given significant weight where it was freely entered into, with full disclosure and independent legal advice…

Habitual residence is a factual question focused on the child’s integration in a social and family environment. The court must assess the practical connection…

Applications to stay a return order under the 1980 Hague Convention engage a broad discretion, governed by the risk of injustice to the parties. The court…

Where an unmarried man acquires parental responsibility by registration as the child’s father, that acquisition rests on a rebuttable presumption that he is…

In summary return proceedings, habitual residence is determined factually by the child’s integration in a social and family environment. For a very young…

In a family fact-finding hearing, the party making allegations bears the burden of proving them on the balance of probabilities. That burden remains with the…

On an appeal limited to review, an appellate court must respect the trial judge’s advantage in seeing and hearing witnesses. It may intervene where findings…

Where a person to be served may be living in a women’s refuge, the court must balance effective service against the confidentiality and safety of the refuge.…

Habitual residence is determined by the child’s degree of integration in a social and family environment, assessed qualitatively and by reference to all the…

Disclosure of information from private family proceedings to a professional regulator requires the court to conduct the evaluative balancing exercise…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, a child’s objection to return is a question of fact. The gateway is satisfied where the child genuinely objects to the…

Disclosure of a family court fact-finding judgment to the Secretary of State for the Home Department requires the evaluative balancing exercise identified in…

Where a person holds parental responsibility under the law of another State, continuing under Art 16 of the 1996 Hague Convention, the court must consider…

For an overseas marriage ceremony, the law of the place of celebration determines formal validity, while personal capacity is governed by the law of domicile.…

In proceedings involving allegations of domestic abuse, the court must assume that an alleged victim’s evidence and participation may be diminished and must…

In cases involving alleged parental alienation, courts should avoid treating the label as determinative. The assessment must remain fact-specific and focused…

In a Hague Abduction Convention application, the defence of consent succeeds where the evidence establishes the left-behind parent’s clear and unequivocal…

In applications under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, acquiescence is a question of fact assessed from the…

Professional guidance on expert evidence is guidance, not black-letter law or regulation. It does not, by itself, retrospectively make an earlier appointment…

Anonymisation is a departure from the ordinary principle of open justice. The identity of a professional involved in family proceedings should be withheld only…

Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, the court must assess whether the deceased’s disposition makes reasonable financial…

In an intercountry adoption application, consent to an overseas adoption does not automatically amount to consent to an English adoption order. The court must…

Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention establishes a high-threshold exception to the prompt return of a wrongfully retained child. Where disputed…

For a marriage conducted across jurisdictions, the court must identify the lex loci celebrationis and determine formal validity under the law of that place.…

Where a court proposes to withhold relevant information from a party, the default position is that the party should receive notice and have an opportunity to…

In determining whether a child should be returned or permitted to remain abroad, the child’s welfare is paramount. The court must consider the welfare…

In an application under the Hague Convention 1980, the Article 13(b) exception may be established by the effect of a return on the retaining parent’s mental…

In a welfare decision concerning children wrongfully removed to another country, the ordinary expectation of return does not displace the court’s duty to…

When deciding whether to order a child’s return under the inherent jurisdiction, the court must treat the child’s welfare as paramount and conduct a global…

In Hague Convention child-abduction proceedings, the Article 13(b) exception requires assessment of contested allegations at their highest, the future…

The jurisdiction to make a forced marriage protection order is broad and flexible. Physical presence, habitual residence or British citizenship of the person…

A local authority may invoke the inherent jurisdiction in respect of a child only within the limits imposed by Children Act 1989, s 100. The statutory gateway…

Anticipatory declarations concerning an unborn child are available under the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction, but they are rare and exceptional. An…

In an application under Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention, the assessment of grave risk is contextual and directed to the situation the individual…

In determining whether life-sustaining treatment should continue for a child, the court must decide the child’s objective best interests, with welfare as the…

Restrictions on a child’s mobile phone, tablet, laptop or social-media access do not ordinarily constitute a deprivation of liberty under Article 5(1) of the…

The statutory secure-accommodation scheme and the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction are distinct. A secure accommodation order under Children Act 1989, s 25…

Under Article 13(1)(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention, grave risk ordinarily requires a high probability that return will expose a child to severe harm or an…

When considering adoption of siblings separately, the court must treat the sibling relationship as an important aspect of family life. Separate adoption…

A court may stay properly constituted family proceedings under its common-law case-management jurisdiction where doing so is necessary to secure a fair and…