High Court: Family Division judgments, 2025

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, a parent’s unilateral retention of children abroad is wrongful where it breaches the custody rights actually exercised by the…

For a newborn child, habitual residence is determined factually by asking whether there is sufficient integration in a social and family environment. The…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, Article 13 exceptions are narrow exceptions to the ordinary consequence of wrongful removal or retention, not defences that…

In financial remedy proceedings, the party asserting a debt bears the burden of proving its existence on the balance of probabilities. Bank credits, a loan…

A declaration of parentage determines existing legal status and cannot be granted by consent or default. Where assisted conception occurred outside a licensed…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, a return should ordinarily be ordered following a wrongful removal or retention unless an Article 13 exception is established.…

In Convention return proceedings, the requested state determines whether removal was wrongful, but should attach considerable weight to an authoritative…

Where clinicians consider life-sustaining treatment clinically inappropriate and will not offer it, the court should distinguish that question from whether…

For jurisdiction under the Family Law Act 1986 and the 1996 Hague Convention, habitual residence is determined by a broad, child-focused and comparative…

Sentencing for contempt in family proceedings has two objectives: to mark the court’s disapproval and to secure future compliance. The sentence must reflect…

In determining child arrangements after established domestic abuse, the statutory presumption that parental involvement furthers welfare is subordinate to the…

A local authority does not need the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction to authorise serious medical treatment for a looked after child where it is not seeking…

When determining interim living arrangements for a competent child approaching 16, the court must apply the welfare checklist while giving substantial weight…

In applications concerning life-sustaining treatment, the court must decide whether providing the treatment is in the patient’s best interests. The assessment…

An appeal against family fact-finding orders will succeed only where the decision was wrong or unjust because of a serious procedural irregularity.…

In a family fact-finding hearing, allegations of domestic abuse, sexual abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour are determined on the balance of…

When deciding whether to permit reporting in care proceedings, the court must adopt a structured Convention analysis. It must identify the interference…

In determining a relocation application, the child’s welfare remains paramount and the court must evaluate all relevant circumstances rather than apply a…

Brain stem death, established by the applicable neurological criteria, constitutes legal death in the United Kingdom. Once the court is satisfied that brain…

Contempt requires deliberate disobedience of a lawful order, proved beyond reasonable doubt. The applicant bears the burden of proving that the respondent knew…

In a Hague Convention return application, the Article 13(b) exception requires a forward-looking assessment of grave risk, based on the maximum level of risk…

A temporary agreement permitting a child to live abroad may give rise to a retention even where no fixed return date exists, provided the arrangement indicates…

A section 91(14) restriction must be carefully tailored to the harm it seeks to prevent. Its duration and scope must be proportionate, and the court must…

In an application for summary return under Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention, the court must assess the grave risk to the children on the evidence…

In a non-party disclosure application, the court may depart from the usual costs position where the successful applicant could reasonably have avoided a…

Under Art 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention, the court must assess the situation that would confront the child on return, including the availability and…

In public law care proceedings and related inherent jurisdiction proceedings concerning serious medical treatment, jurisdiction is governed by the 1996 Hague…

In financial-relief proceedings, the court may adopt a needs-based approach even where substantial wealth exists, particularly where the parties’ resources…

An application to set aside a financial remedy consent order for fraudulent non-disclosure must be made with reasonable promptness. There is no fixed…

In wardship proceedings, the child’s welfare is the paramount consideration and must be assessed through a global, holistic and multi-faceted evaluation of all…

In disputes about life-sustaining treatment for a child, the court must independently determine the child’s best interests. It must consider welfare in the…

In adoption proceedings following an informal surrogacy arrangement, the child’s lifelong welfare remains paramount. The court must determine disputed facts on…

An appellate court reviewing child-welfare decisions must respect the first-instance judge’s evaluative and discretionary judgment. Intervention is justified…

In summary-return proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention, the court must determine whether the opposing parent establishes the grave risk required by Art…

Habitual residence is determined by a global, comparative analysis of the child’s circumstances. Physical presence and parental intention are relevant, but…

In determining competing applications for a child to live in England or the United Arab Emirates, the court must apply the child’s best interests and the…

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is a permissive and humane statute. The requirement to live in the acquired gender must be interpreted purposively and by…

In Hague Convention child-abduction proceedings, the child-objections exception requires more than a preference to remain in the requested State. The child…

Consent to removal under the 1980 Hague Convention must be clear and unequivocal, assessed in the practical context of family life rather than by contractual…

On an appeal connected with financial remedy proceedings, but not itself constituting financial remedy proceedings, the court has a discretionary power to make…

In a non-Convention case, an application for the summary return of a child is determined solely by the child’s welfare. The court must not apply Hague…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, a child wrongfully removed from the state of habitual residence must be…

A return order under the 1980 Hague Convention may be set aside without an alleged court error where new circumstances fundamentally undermine the basis on…

An appellate court should intervene in a child-welfare decision only where the decision was wrong, procedurally unjust, or outside the generous ambit within…

Where a child’s relative is assessed as able to provide a secure and loving home, the court must determine the child’s welfare by evaluating the statutory…

In private-law children proceedings, the court may make more than one direction under Children Act 1989, s 37, where an earlier investigation was not…

An application to extend child maintenance beyond the child’s eighteenth birthday may be made informally within existing proceedings. It is sufficient if the…

In serious medical treatment cases involving children, the court must make an independent, fact-specific assessment of the child’s best interests. It must…

A local authority may invoke the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction to authorise a child’s deprivation of liberty only where the conditions in section 100(4)…

In private-law children proceedings involving alleged domestic abuse, the court must identify the welfare issues, understand the nature of the disputed…

Costs orders in proceedings concerning children remain exceptional because the usual objective is to preserve resources for the child and avoid damaging…

Article 13(b) of the Hague Convention requires a forward-looking assessment of the child’s situation on return. The court must consider the nature and…

Under the Hague Convention, express rights of access do not become rights of custody merely because they involve regular contact. The relevant domestic law…

Contempt proceedings in family cases are quasi-criminal in character. Each alleged breach must be proved beyond reasonable doubt, and the application and…

In a Hague Convention return application, acquiescence under Article 13(a) depends principally on the left-behind parent’s actual state of mind, assessed from…

In determining whether life-sustaining treatment should continue, the court must make an independent assessment of the child’s best interests. That assessment…

Committal proceedings for contempt in the face of the court may proceed in the defendant’s absence where the defendant has received sufficient notice, has had…

In wardship proceedings concerning a capacitous child aged seventeen, the High Court may determine residence under its inherent jurisdiction where the parties…

The High Court may continue an injunction protecting clinicians where a child remains alive and the NHS trust continues to provide care. The injunction must be…

An application to reopen findings of fact requires solid grounds for believing that a rehearing could produce a different outcome. The court must balance…

A care order may be made for a child placed permanently with extended family where the order is necessary to protect the child and make the care plan…

A deprivation of liberty order made under the inherent jurisdiction must not be used to compel accommodation under Children Act 1989 section 20. A capacitous…

A court retains jurisdiction to implement and enforce its own substantive child arrangements order, even where the child has subsequently become habitually…

In serious medical treatment decisions concerning a child, the court must determine whether the proposed treatment is in the child’s best interests. Treatment…

Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, an adult child must show that the deceased’s disposition failed to make reasonable…

Legal parentage is not determined conclusively by birth registration. In assisted reproduction cases, parentage may depend on common-law principles and…

A court considering a further Children Act 1989 section 91(14) order must ensure procedural fairness. The affected party must know that such an order is under…

The nationality-based protective jurisdiction may be exercised in respect of a British child abroad where circumstances are sufficiently compelling to make its…

In care proceedings, decisions about removal must assess the risks of separation alongside the risks arising if the child remains at home. The assessment must…

In care proceedings, the court must assess each realistic placement option against the welfare of each child, considering the evidence as a whole and giving…

Under Article 7(1)(b) of the 1996 Hague Convention, jurisdiction retained by the State of the child’s former habitual residence after wrongful removal or…

In disputed fact-finding proceedings concerning suspected non-accidental injury, the court must determine each allegation on the balance of probabilities while…

A child cannot acquire habitual residence in a country in which she has never been physically present. Habitual residence remains a factual inquiry, focused on…

In an Inheritance Act claim by a surviving spouse, the court must properly compute the deceased’s assets before applying the statutory factors and the divorce…

In a Hague Convention child-abduction application issued more than one year after wrongful retention, settlement must be assessed holistically from the child’s…

Deprivation of liberty orders under the inherent jurisdiction are welfare orders which significantly interfere with a young person’s liberty. They may be made…

An application to set aside a return order under the 1980 Hague Convention requires a fundamental change of circumstances which sufficiently undermines the…

An appellate court reviewing domestic-ab abuse findings must respect the trial judge’s advantage in hearing the evidence and should not re-evaluate the facts…

In an application for summary return under the 1980 Hague Convention, the court should adopt a two-stage approach to the Article 13(b) defence. It should first…

In financial remedy proceedings, conduct under section 25(2)(g) requires proof of the relevant facts, conduct reaching the high or exceptional threshold, and…

In an application for summary return to a non-Hague Convention country, the child’s welfare remains the paramount consideration. The court may make a summary…

In a Schedule 1 claim, provision must be made for the benefit of the child, even where the child has experienced an exceptionally high standard of living.…

The inherent jurisdiction of the High Court may be used to protect and secure the return of a British child who is outside England and Wales, even where the…

An appellate court should not interfere with findings of fact, including evaluations and inferences, unless compelled to do so. However, the protection…

For an adoption application involving applicants habitually resident abroad, the statutory requirement that the child be seen with the applicants in their home…

Once the threshold for state intervention is crossed, welfare decision-making requires a pure assessment of the child’s welfare. There is no presumption or…

In Schedule 1 proceedings, the court may make broad-brush financial provision for a child after considering all relevant circumstances, including the parties’…

In proceedings concerning a young person over 16 receiving gender-affirming hormone treatment, expert evidence is permitted only where necessary to assist the…

A Hague Convention return order may be set aside only where there has been a fundamental change of circumstances which undermines the basis of the original…

A local authority should not treat secure accommodation under Children Act 1989, section 25, and deprivation-of-liberty authorisation under the inherent…

On an application to terminate an unmarried father’s parental responsibility, the child’s welfare is the paramount consideration. The court may use the welfare…

On an application for strike out or summary judgment, the court considers the claim as pleaded and assumes the pleaded facts in the claimant’s favour, while…

Variation of a periodical payments order under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989 requires a fresh discretionary assessment of all the circumstances. A change…

In a family fact-finding appeal, allegations of rape or sexual assault must be evaluated as facts, including whether sexual intercourse was consensual, forced…

For adoption purposes, former partners may remain partners in an enduring family relationship where they have continued to function as a family and jointly…

In deciding an application for a child’s return from a non-Convention state, the court must determine on the individual facts how extensive the welfare inquiry…

In a non-Convention case, an application for summary return is determined by the individual children’s welfare. Return is not automatic merely because children…

In determining competing applications concerning a child, the child’s welfare is paramount and the court must evaluate the evidence holistically. A…

In an application under the 1980 Hague Convention, the Article 13(b) defence has a high threshold and focuses on the child’s concrete situation on return. The…

In an application under Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention, the court must adopt a structured two-stage approach. It must first decide whether the…

Applicants in end-of-life treatment proceedings must provide the court and all representatives with the source material necessary for a proper best-interests…

When deciding whether relatives should be notified of a proposed adoption, the court must identify and balance all relevant interests. The child’s welfare is…

Where an order under Children Act 1989, s 91(14) is in force, permission to apply for a child arrangements order requires the applicant to show a need for…

Under Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention, the court must assess the concrete situation the child would face on return. The risk must be grave, and the…

In Hague Convention proceedings, a parent’s oral consent to a child’s relocation may be established on the balance of probabilities. Consent must be clear and…

A Xydhias agreement reached in financial-remedy negotiations remains subject to the court’s independent approval and discretion under section 25 of the…

Restrictions on publishing information from children proceedings heard in private remain governed by Administration of Justice Act 1960, s 12, unless varied by…

In an application to withdraw life-sustaining treatment from a child, the court must determine the child’s best interests, treating welfare as paramount and…

In an application under the 1980 Hague Convention, the Article 13(b) defence requires a grave risk of physical or psychological harm or an intolerable…

An appellate court should intervene in a family case only where the decision below was wrong or unjust because of a serious procedural irregularity. A judge…

In determining child arrangements, the child’s welfare is paramount. A court may remove parental responsibility where the circumstances show that continued…

Where disputed allegations of domestic abuse lead to a fact-finding hearing, existing interim child-contact arrangements must be reviewed. The court must…

In determining an application for a parental order, the child’s welfare throughout life is paramount. The court must consider the lifelong consequences of the…

In a Hague Convention return application, consent to a holiday is not consent to permanent removal or retention. Consent must be clear and unequivocal…

An adult with decision-making capacity ordinarily has the right to refuse medical treatment, even where refusal may lead to death. Detention does not remove…

Article 6(1) does not confer an automatic entitlement to legal assistance or a lay advocate in family proceedings. Its civil limb applies only where there is a…

Decisions whether to notify a birth father or relatives about a proposed adoption require a prompt but thorough investigation and a holistic balancing of all…

Where a child has been retained in another contracting state, proceedings under the Hague Convention 1980 will usually be the better course. However, the…

A lawful relocation authorised by a court does not itself determine a child’s habitual residence. The court must undertake a global, fact-sensitive assessment…

In a non-Convention child-abduction case, summary return is not automatic. The court must determine whether return is in the individual child’s best interests…

An appeal court ordinarily reviews the lower court’s decision and does not rehear the case. Fresh evidence is admitted only where the established criteria are…

An appellate court should interfere with a case-management decision only in limited circumstances, but must do so where the decision is wrong and materially…

In an application for an English adoption order following an overseas adoption, the court must scrutinise the circumstances of the children’s placement and…

In a summary application under the 1980 Hague Convention, removal may be wrongful where consent was procured by material deception. Consent must relate to the…

In contempt proceedings with a criminal complexion for the purposes of Article 6, the alleged contemnor must be allowed to cross-examine on matters relevant to…

In a non-Convention child-return case, the child’s welfare remains the paramount consideration. Summary return is not automatic, but may be ordered where…

In an adoption relinquishment case, notification of the child’s extended family requires a fair balance between the competing interests. The child’s welfare is…

The High Court has inherent jurisdiction to permit a party to publish information arising from private family proceedings, although the statutory and…

In a Hague Convention return application, the Article 13(b) exception requires the court to assess whether return would expose the child to a grave risk of…

Parental responsibility may, in an appropriate case, include consent to arrangements which would otherwise objectively deprive a child under 16 of liberty. The…

Disclosure in family proceedings requires a staged assessment. The material must first be relevant. The court must then balance the fair-trial rights of the…

In a fact-finding hearing, allegations must be proved on the balance of probabilities by the party making them. The court must assess the evidence as a whole…

The High Court has no jurisdiction to make a welfare decision for an unborn child who has no legal personality. An application concerning proposed testing or…

Habitual residence is determined by a child-focused factual assessment of the child’s integration in a social and family environment. The inquiry requires…

In care proceedings, the court must focus promptly on the children’s welfare once threshold has been agreed or determined. Delay caused by unresolved…

In determining children’s living arrangements, the court must focus on welfare, stability and safety, including evidenced risks arising from a parent’s past…

In determining child arrangements, the court’s paramount consideration is the child’s welfare. A shared-lives-with order is not merely a matter of labelling.…

Recognition at common law of a foreign adoption requires satisfaction of four criteria: the adopters’ domicile in the foreign country when the adoption was…

In care proceedings, a special guardianship order may be made where placement with relatives is demonstrably in the children’s welfare best interests and is…

Settlement under Article 12 is assessed holistically at the date of hearing. Physical, emotional and psychological factors overlap and need not be separately…

For an application for permission to appeal under the Family Proceedings Rules 2010, the relevant decision date is the date of the formal hand-down or oral…

A fact-finding hearing may be inquisitorial or investigative, but must protect all participants. The court’s central task is to establish the truth. Alleged…

A binding financial settlement may leave the court to resolve the final form of the order, but the court must confine itself to matters falling within the…

In a fact-finding hearing concerning children removed across international borders, the court must determine disputed allegations by applying the balance of…

An appellate court should interfere with a discretionary or evaluative decision only where the judge failed to consider a relevant matter, considered an…

International relocation to a non-Hague Convention country is determined by the child’s welfare as the paramount consideration. The court must undertake a…

Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, reasonable financial provision for a surviving spouse is assessed objectively and in all…

In determining whether to make a care order, the court must assess the child’s welfare by applying the statutory checklist and considering the realistic…

In an application for summary return to a non-Hague Convention country, the child’s welfare remains the paramount consideration. Summary return is available…

In a non-Convention child-removal case, the child’s welfare is paramount. Habitual residence and wrongful removal inform the welfare evaluation but do not…

A local authority seeking to extend a deprivation of liberty order must demonstrate a continuing welfare purpose. The court will examine whether the…

When deciding whether to make a return order under the inherent jurisdiction, the court must determine whether reunification is in the children’s best…

The High Court may assess whether a child can safely be returned to another State before determining the child’s asylum claim, provided the principle of…

In proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention, an adjournment application must be determined by assessing the fairness of the proceedings as a whole. The…

In wardship proceedings, the court must determine the child’s welfare in the round. It is not confined to deciding whether parental conduct was lawful or…

An anti-suit injunction is an equitable remedy governed by Supreme Courts Act 1981, section 37. In an alternative-forum case, the applicant must establish…

Where an application under the inherent jurisdiction seeks orders concerning a child’s care, contact or education, it may fall within Family Law Act 1986, s…

In determining child arrangements, the child’s welfare remains paramount. A parent’s involvement is presumed to further welfare, but that presumption yields…

A wasted costs order requires proof of an improper, unreasonable or negligent act or omission by a legal representative, a direct causal link to identifiable…

In determining whether life-sustaining treatment should continue for a child, the court must exercise an independent and objective assessment of the child’s…

In 1980 Hague Convention proceedings, a child’s joinder is governed by the child’s best interests. Party status is exceptional where the child’s views can be…

In proceedings concerning the return of a child retained abroad, the appropriate procedural route may depend on the circumstances and the passage of time. A…

Adoption may be authorised following an unlawful commercial foreign surrogacy arrangement where the statutory requirements are met and adoption is necessary to…

Forced Marriage Protection Orders may extend beyond a protected person’s 18th birthday where the evidence establishes a continuing, serious risk of forced…

Habitual residence is essentially a factual question. It should not be overlaid with legal sub-rules or glosses. The central inquiry is whether the child has…

When parents and doctors disagree about life-saving treatment for a child who cannot decide, the court must determine whether the treatment is in the child’s…

In an application for the summary return of children to a non-Hague Convention state, the governing consideration is the welfare of each individual child.…

In family fact-finding proceedings, allegations must be proved on the balance of probabilities. The seriousness of an allegation does not alter that standard…

A parental order may be made without the surrogate mother’s agreement where the court is satisfied that she cannot be found within section 54(7) of the Human…

In proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention, a child’s habitual residence is determined by a fact-sensitive assessment of the child’s integration in the…

On an appeal in children proceedings, the appellate court must review the judgment as a whole and should not substitute its own assessment for that of the…

A return order made under the 1980 Hague Convention may be set aside without error by the court where new evidence establishes a fundamental change of…

A marriage certificate and register entry provide strong prima facie evidence that a civil marriage took place. Where fraud is alleged against that evidence…

Recognition of a post-2014 Nigerian adoption depends on the common-law criteria for recognising a foreign adoption. Those criteria include domicile of the…

Care and supervision required because of profound disabilities do not necessarily amount to a deprivation of liberty under Article 5 ECHR. The court must…

In an application for summary return under the 1980 Hague Convention, domestic abuse may establish the grave risk required by Art 13(b), but neither domestic…

In care proceedings, disputed allegations must be determined on the balance of probabilities by assessing the evidence as a whole. The court must decide each…

A man who is not the biological or legal father of a child does not acquire parental responsibility under section 4(1)(a) of the Children Act 1989 merely…

For a non-agency adoption application, the requirement in section 42(7)(b) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 that the local authority have sufficient…

Police authorities must justify each redaction from otherwise disclosable material by reference to relevance, privacy, confidentiality, fair-trial rights and…

In interim financial-remedy proceedings, maintenance pending suit ordinarily requires a realistic interim budget. The Form E budget may suffice where it can…