A court has refused to return an abducted child to his mother even though he was taken illegally by his father. The court accepted that it was against the boy’s interests to be sent back to his mother and that he had made it clear that he did not want to live with her because
What is mediation? When couples separate, emotions can often hinder difficult issues being discussed. Mediation is a process that is designed to help people reach an early agreement, with the minimum of cost, delay and confrontation. It can ease the pain of a family breakdown or separation, encourages people to be open and discuss
A court has refused to return an abducted child to his mother even though he was taken illegally by his father. The court accepted that it was against the boy’s interests to be sent back to his mother and that he had made it clear that he did not want to live with her because
Children want more say in what happens to them when their parents get divorced, according to research carried out for the family law group, Resolution. The survey also revealed that 82% said they would prefer that their parents separated if they were unhappy rather than stay together. Resolution quotes one young person as saying: “Don’t
At present the divorce process in England and Wales is lengthy, costly and unnecessarily bureaucratic. This article focuses in particular on the need for a no fault divorce. There is currently only one ground for divorce – that the marriage has broken down ‘irretrievably’. This can only be demonstrated by proving one of the facts
A wife has lost her appeal against a divorce settlement in which she received a smaller share of the matrimonial assets than her husband. The case involved a couple who had been married for 14 years and had a 10-year-old daughter. Shortly after the birth, the wife developed mental health problems and was diagnosed with
The family law group Resolution has urged the government to increase legal protection for cohabiting couples. New figures released by the Office for National Statistics reveal that unmarried couples living together are now the fastest growing family grouping in the UK. There are 3.1 million opposite sex cohabiting couple families. It means they now make
A husband has won his appeal against a divorce settlement that would have not have been possible to put into practice. The case involved a couple who were both 58 and were divorcing after 13 years of marriage. The wife worked in a primary school and the husband owned a small company. At the hearing
In October 2015, the cases of Sharland v Sharland and Gohil v Gohil were heard by the Supreme Court. In both cases, the Applicant wives’ were seeking the Courts permission to reopen financial proceedings between them, and their ex-husband’s, even though the proceedings had been concluded some years earlier. Their reasons for doing this were
A husband who behaved in a “blatantly dishonest” way while giving evidence in court has failed to reduce his wife’s divorce settlement. The court heard that the couple had married in February 2006 and separated in December 2011. They had three children aged between four and nine. During their marriage they had enjoyed a wealthy