Knowledge and resources

Family proceedings (whether through NCDR or court-based) should be conducted cost effectively without compromising the quality of advice that clients crave and deserve, balancing the benefits of any steps taken against the likely costs – financial or emotional. Many family cases are now concluded without the involvement of barristers. However, certain clients will benefit from representation by an effective team of lawyer and barrister in order to achieve an appropriate balance between cost and quality. This guidance note offers advice on best practice for family law professionals when working with a barrister.

New pilot projects aim to ensure that the operation of the family courts is open to scrutiny.

Are you interested in becoming a Deputy District Judge within the family jurisdiction?

Two recent cases highlight the procedural difficulties and the court’s case management powers

Supporting litigants in person - how Support Through Court helps and how they can help you in your work.

In the second of a two-part article on how grandparents can be brought into when parental issues have arisen, we focus here on public law proceedings and the details of child arrangements order and special guardianship orders.

Hearings in the Family Court are increasingly being held remotely by telephone or on video conferencing software. This guide is designed to help you through the process and includes helpful information on how to prepare for the hearing, how to join a hearing and what to do during the hearing.

The President of the Family division has asked us to share this guidance on PDF bundles.

In this article for The Review David Burrows takes a look at the case law resulting from the period February to March 2020.

The fallout from the controversial judgment in F v H and what it will mean for judicial training. In this article for The Review Anna-Laura Lock and Selena Arbe-Barnes take a look at this new situation.

With Covid-19 shifting cases overnight to digital-only, there is an urgent need to consider transparency issues, as well as ensuring our clients are not being left behind in the new processes.

Following Re TT in the last issue, we now have P (Transgender applicant for declaration of valid marriage) [2019]: a cautionary tale to ensure that a gender recognition certificate is obtained.

A court-appointed receiver is a fairly draconian step, but is worth considering as one possible strategy for an unco-operative ex-spouse.

Sadly, it is not an uncommon scenario: following hotly contested divorce proceedings an order is made that requires one spouse to make financial payments over a period of months or years to the other.

In November 2019 Mrs Justice Knowles delivered a further judgment in the long-running Akhmedova v Akhmedov litigation ([2019] EWHC 3140). The judgment is a helpful summary of the law in relation to the use of illegitimately obtained documents and the circumstances in which a prima facie claim to privilege can be overridden.

In this article we will explore the background to the case, the facts and issues that arose for determination by Knowles J, the law on illegitimately obtained documents and their use in financial remedy proceedings, the law on privilege, the fraud/iniquity exception to privilege, and the decision in this instalment of Akhmedova v Akhmedov. We will finish by providing some practical guidance for practitioners.

Resolution has published its response to the President of the Family Division's report on medical expert witnesses in the family courts.

Must the judge who was present at the FDR hearing be disqualified from considering those points? This was the question that needed to be determined in the recent High Court case of Shokrollah-Babaee v Shokrollah-Babaee. Austin Chessell reports for The Review.

As with most things in life, there are positives and negatives of McKenzie Friends, as personal experience and the case law show.

Whilst studying at law school, I volunteered for the National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV) as a McKenzie Friend, assisting victims of domestic abuse in obtaining non-molestation and occupation orders in the courts. This gave me a personal insight into how the work of McKenzie Friends can be invaluable.

Feedback on the Judicial Executive Board’s consultation on McKenzie Friends shows there is still a broad range of views on the current position and possible changes. So what are the ground rules?