High Court: Family Division judgments, 2026

In an application under the 1980 Hague Convention, the grave-risk exception in Article 13(b) requires a child-focused, forward-looking assessment. The court…

In a summary application under the 1980 Hague Convention, the respondent bears the burden of establishing the Article 13(b) exception on the ordinary balance…

Summary return proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention are directed to the prompt return of a wrongfully removed child so that the courts of the state of…

Recognition as a refugee in the United Kingdom, including status granted in line as a dependant, does not create an automatic bar to a Hague return order to a…

Where domestic abuse has been found, a court deciding child arrangements must apply the Family Procedure Rules 2010 Practice Direction 12J framework alongside…

Whether arrangements amount to a deprivation of liberty under Article 5 must be assessed in the individual’s full context. The court must use a multifactorial…

In a dispute over a deceased person’s burial or cremation, the statutory order of priority for a grant of administration is the starting point. Under Senior…

In a summary return application under the 1980 Hague Convention, the Article 13(b) exception requires examination of the concrete situation the child would…

Article 7 of the 1996 Hague Convention can preserve the jurisdiction of a child’s former habitual-residence State after wrongful removal or retention into a…

Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention requires a child-focused, future-looking assessment of grave risk on return, rather than a welfare determination.…

On appeal in private-law children proceedings, first-instance welfare decisions attract a generous margin of discretion. The appellate court may intervene…

For jurisdiction under the Hague Convention 1996, wrongful retention is assessed when the travelling parent repudiates the agreed temporary nature of the…

Disclosure of a fact-finding judgment from private family proceedings under Family Procedure Rules 2010, rule 12.73(1)(b), requires a fact-sensitive balancing…

Common-law recognition of a foreign adoption ordinarily requires the four Re Valentine’s Settlement criteria: foreign domicile, lawful adoption, substantial…

Whether a child is deprived of liberty under Article 5(1) requires a practical, multifactorial assessment of the child’s specific situation. The court must…

When an application for an occupation order under Family Law Act 1996 s 33 is closely linked to interim child arrangements, the court must consider the effect…

On an application to discharge a care order, the court must make a current welfare evaluation under Children Act 1989 s 1. Welfare is paramount, the welfare…

When the inherent jurisdiction is used to authorise restrictions that deprive a child of liberty, the court must scrutinise both the legal justification and…

In proceedings under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980, the Article 13(b) exception has a high threshold. The…

In an application for a child’s international relocation, the child’s welfare is paramount under the Children Act 1989. There is no presumption for or against…

In fact-finding proceedings involving alleged domestic abuse, the person making an allegation bears the burden of proving it on the balance of probabilities.…

An FGM protection order under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 is an evidence-based protective remedy. The applicant must prove the alleged risk on the…

Under art 12 of the 1980 Hague Convention, settlement is assessed from the child’s perspective through a holistic, non-technical inquiry. It includes physical…

A retrospective extension of time for filing an answer in divorce proceedings is an application for relief from sanctions. The court must apply the three-stage…

In a summary-return application concerning a child from a non-Hague Convention country, the High Court must apply the welfare principle to the individual…

In an urgent medical-treatment case, the court must determine a child's best interests through an independent, objective and holistic assessment. A strong…

In a non-Convention return application, the child’s welfare remains paramount. A return order follows a welfare determination: habitual residence and wrongful…

Permission for contempt proceedings is exceptional and should be granted only where there is a strong prima facie case, a public interest in proceeding, and…

A court may set aside a Hague Convention return order without an alleged error only where later events amount to a fundamental change of circumstances that…

A family court cannot make a statutory declaration of birth or direct the Registrar-General to enter facts in the birth, death or marriage registers. A…

An extended civil restraint order may be made where a party has persistently made applications that are totally without merit. Its wider effect can justify a…

In family proceedings, the Hague Convention 1970 is not a mandatory or exclusive route for obtaining evidence from abroad. Where a party or witness voluntarily…

In a summary application under article 13(b) of the Hague Convention 1980, the court must assess the maximum reasonably supported risk to each child on return…

In financial remedy proceedings involving a discretionary trust, the court must assess whether it is a resource by asking whether the trustees are likely to…

A judge deciding interim contact must give reasons that identify the basis of the decision. The court must decide contact by a comprehensive assessment of the…

On an application to prevent a child’s removal abroad, the child’s welfare is paramount and requires a global, holistic assessment of the realistic care…

The inherent jurisdiction may be available where a person lacks capacity and the statutory framework provides no sufficient, practical and effective remedy for…

In an application for a declaration of parentage, the applicant bears the burden of proving biological parentage on the balance of probabilities. Reliable DNA…

In an application for summary return under the 1980 Hague Convention, the Article 13(b) defence requires a concrete assessment of the situation likely to arise…

In a burial dispute, the court must determine who should control the funeral arrangements by applying the statutory order of priority for a grant of…

Under the 1980 Hague Convention, consent to a child’s removal must be clear and unequivocal, but it may be inferred from words and conduct. A discussion of a…

An appellate court reviewing family fact-finding must respect the trial judge’s evaluative advantage, but may intervene where material evidence was omitted or…

Article 13(b) requires a two-stage assessment. The court must first consider whether the allegations, taken at their highest but subject to evaluative…

A parental order may be made for a child born through an international surrogacy arrangement where the statutory conditions are satisfied and the order…

In a Hague Convention 1980 return application, a later order in the requesting state that the child should live in the requested state does not retrospectively…

In private-law fact-finding proceedings, serious allegations remain subject to the balance of probabilities. The court must decide whether each alleged fact is…

In a summary application under the 1980 Hague Convention, the court should first consider whether the evidence enables it confidently to discount an Article…

Habitual residence is determined by a global, child-focused assessment of the relevant connections, including stability, integration, schooling, family…

Family courts may permit focused publicity, including the publication of adults’ names and photographs, where necessary to locate missing children and protect…

Where an abducted child cannot be located despite extensive investigative and disclosure measures, the court may relax confidentiality restrictions and…

For Convention purposes, consent to a child’s travel abroad may be limited and temporary even where no return date is fixed. The court must assess the parties’…

A customary marriage celebrated overseas may be a marriage which is defective for non-compliance with foreign civil formalities, yet capable of later…

On an appeal from a variation order, fairness requires the judge to ensure that a party has a proper opportunity to answer significant challenges to their…

In a non-Convention summary-return application, the governing question is the children’s welfare and best interests. The court must make a swift, realistic and…

In Hague Convention proceedings, wrongful retention is assessed by identifying the date on which the left-behind parent’s consent ended or was repudiated.…

Article 13(b) requires a focused assessment of the future situation facing the child on return. The defence has a high threshold, but the court must evaluate…

Publication of a judgment in private family proceedings engages both the court’s inherent jurisdiction and the principle of open justice. The court must…

When deciding whether a father or relative should be told of a proposed adoption, the court must establish the facts and strike a fair balance between all…

Where children are wrongfully removed to a non-Convention country, the High Court may retain jurisdiction under the Family Law Act 1986 if the children were…

Habitual residence is determined as a question of fact by evaluating the child’s circumstances and comparative integration at the date proceedings begin.…

A care order is not automatic merely because the statutory threshold is satisfied. The court must decide whether an order is necessary and proportionate on the…

In an application for summary return under the 1980 Hague Convention, the Article 13(b) exception requires the respondent to prove, on the balance of…

Habitual residence under the 1980 Hague Convention is a question of fact requiring a broad, global and comparative assessment of the child’s circumstances.…

Where an application seeks the return of children from outside the jurisdiction under the inherent jurisdiction, and the court has sufficient evidence to…

In family proceedings concerning an abducted child, the court may permit identification of the parties and child where publicity serves a sufficiently…

In a summary return application, the child’s welfare remains the paramount consideration. The court must undertake a global and holistic analysis of all…

Applications for access to documents from concluded private children proceedings engage the constitutional principle of open justice where the purpose is…

In a non-Convention child abduction case, an inward return order is made only after a summary welfare determination. The child’s welfare is paramount. Habitual…

Under 1980 Hague Convention art 13, a child’s objection to return gives the court a discretion, not an automatic exemption. Where the child has sufficient age…

For an Article 3 retention, a child must have been lawfully removed and then retained outside the State of habitual residence contrary to a lawful requirement…

Jurisdiction based on habitual residence must be assessed at the date proceedings are commenced. Where jurisdiction initially rests on habitual residence, the…

Where a foster placement is terminated urgently, Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010, regulation 14(3) requires the responsible…

Under Family Law Act 1986, s 55A(5), the court may refuse to hear a parentage application only where determining it would not be in the child’s best interests.…

Contempt for breach of a mandatory family order requires proof beyond reasonable doubt that the order clearly required the defendant to do a particular act…

Disclosure of a confidential Annex A adoption report is governed by an unfettered, reciprocal balancing of all relevant rights and interests. Relevance alone…

In deciding whether life-sustaining treatment should continue, the court must focus on the patient’s continuing best interests. The question is whether the…

Under Art 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Convention, the court must assess whether allegations can confidently be discounted. If they cannot, it must consider the…

Alienating behaviour is a form of abuse and must be specifically alleged and supported by identified evidence. A court cannot infer alienating behaviour merely…

A deprivation of liberty order for a child must identify an Article 5 -compliant purpose and provide adequate reasons for the detention. Educational…

Recognition at common law of a foreign adoption requires satisfaction of the four Re Valentine’s criteria: domicile, valid creation of the adopted status under…

Under the Hague Convention, a court should exercise any power to order a child’s return to a state other than the state of habitual residence with considerable…

For a summary return application to a non-Hague Convention country under the inherent jurisdiction, the governing consideration is the child’s best interests.…

In determining child-arrangements and related applications, the child’s welfare remains paramount. The statutory presumption that parental involvement furthers…

In applications concerning life-sustaining treatment for a child lacking capacity, the court must make an independent and objective assessment of the child’s…

In deciding between competing adoptive placements, the court must undertake a full, comparative and lifelong welfare evaluation. The phrase “nothing else will…

Under Article 13(b) of the Hague Convention 1980, the grave-risk defence has a high threshold. The court must focus on the child’s situation on return…

An appeal court must distinguish carefully between an assurance of ownership and an assurance of a right to occupy land. Whether an assurance is sufficiently…

In disputes about life-sustaining treatment for a child who cannot decide, the court must determine the child’s best interests objectively. The child’s welfare…

The statutory scheme governing storage and use of gametes and embryos is strict and permits no exceptions within the scheme. Its purpose is not certainty and…

Non-compliance with statutory safeguards governing intercountry adoption does not create an automatic bar to a domestic adoption order, nor does it require a…

In a fact-finding application concerning alleged sexual abuse and parental alienation, allegations must be proved on the balance of probabilities by admissible…

For a child under 16 who lacks Gillick competence, a parent may consent to confinement amounting objectively to a deprivation of liberty, provided the consent…

For a child under 16 who lacks Gillick competence, parental consent may satisfy limb (b) of Storck where the proposed confinement falls within the proper…

Section 83 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 is directed principally to preventing unsuitable or exploitative international adoptions. Properly…

In applications concerning life-sustaining treatment, the court must determine the child’s best interests from the child’s assumed point of view. Welfare is…

In private family proceedings, open justice is the starting point for applications by non-parties to inspect documents and by journalists to publish…

When deciding whether to hold a fact-finding hearing in private-law children proceedings, the central question is whether findings are necessary for the…

Sentencing for contempt requires an assessment of the seriousness of the conduct by reference to culpability and harm. The court must first consider whether a…

Under Art 12 of the 1980 Hague Convention, settlement is assessed at the date of the final hearing. The court must adopt a broad, purposive and holistic…

Under Article 13(2) of the 1980 Hague Convention, the court must first decide whether a child objects to return and has sufficient age and maturity for the…

In family fact-finding proceedings, schedules of allegations are signposts rather than a rigid map. The court must follow the evidence, assess conduct in…

In a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants Act 1975, the court must decide whether the intestacy rules make reasonable financial…