Policy update

As we welcome Sir Stephen Cobb as President of the Family Division, Resolution also thanks Sir Andrew McFarlane for his work and support of our organisation. Please see Sir Andrew’s final “View” on the www.judiciary.uk/ website.

Resolution recently met with the Family Justice Minister, Baroness Levitt KC. The discussion was positive and productive, with the Minister reaffirming the government’s commitment to cohabitation reform. The meeting also covered the forthcoming consultation paper, which is expected to address both cohabitation and financial remedies reform. Jo Edwards and Graeme Fraser highlighted the importance of cohabitation reform for our members and their clients. We look forward to meeting with the Minister again soon, alongside our regular liaison with Ministry of Justice officials.

**STOP PRESS: The Government announced the consultation on 5 June 2026. For more information read Resolution’s press release.**

Resolution has updated its Good Practice Guide to Cohabitation Cases to inform best practice for family lawyers to advise clients embarking on cohabitation, those already living together wanting to understand their “rights”, and those whose cohabiting relationship has broken down.

The new underpinning and essential document for those practising in the Financial Remedies Court is the Financial Remedies Guide, also available on the www.judiciary.uk/ website. Our Finance, Pensions and Tax Committee provided comments on this before publication.

Clause 17 of the Courts and Tribunals Bill currently passing through Parliament amends the Children Act 1989 to remove the presumption of parental involvement. We will continue to monitor this Bill.

In March Baroness Levitt KC wrote to Resolution about the national rollout of the Child Focused Model, formerly known as the Private Law Pathfinder, in the Family Court. The Child Focused Model implements substantial reform to private law children’s proceedings. The letter in full can be found at tinyurl.com/3unhh5v9. The next eight areas to adopt the Child Focused Model in Autumn 2026 will be Northumbria and North Durham, Cleveland and South Durham, Lancashire, Cumbria, York and North Yorkshire, Cheshire and Merseyside, Northamptonshire, and Coventry and Warwickshire. The government intends to roll out to all remaining court areas in England over 2027 to Spring 2029. We will keep members informed.

Child Arrangements and Domestic Abuse applications relating to Kingston Upon Hull, Grimsby, Swansea, Wolverhampton and Chelmsford family courts must be submitted by legal professionals on MyHMCTS Private Family Law Digital Service. We will let members know as soon as possible which courts will next be adopting the service later this year.

On 19 March 2026, Elspeth Thomson gave evidence on behalf of Resolution to a House of Lords Select Committee discussing the Post-legislative Scrutiny of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. Elspeth raised concerns that the Qualified Legal Representative scheme is not working, with a shortage of available representatives in many areas. She also highlighted that legal aid funding has yet to be updated to reflect the new Child Focused Courts model. Resolution welcomes the increasing use of barring orders to protect parents and children from perpetrators who use repeated legal proceedings as a form of continuing domestic abuse.

Resolution has recently responded to the judiciary’s Short Notice Application Working Group consultation on guidance aiming to reduce the number of urgent applications and introduce a more consistent, timely and proportionate approach to gatekeeping and case management by the court in public law children, and a Newborn Baby Protocol.  We have also responded to the Family Procedure Rule Committee consultation on Disclosure of information from financial remedy and children proceedings to Reporters. The consultation seeks input on questions arising from the Transparency Reporting Pilot for Financial Remedy Proceedings. Both responses can be found on the Resolution website.

Other policy updates at the time of writing:

• New Allocation and Gatekeeping Guidance relating to children has been published on www.judiciary.uk/, coming into effect on 5 May 2026.
• The Practice Direction on court bundles – PD27A – has now been updated. A guide has also been published for litigants in person on preparing court bundles for family proceedings. PD No 1 of 2026 subsequently included changes to the PD on court bundles to clarify which preliminary documents should, where possible, be agreed between the parties in financial remedy proceedings, and setting out which party is responsible for filing each of the preliminary documents. Resolution has updated its guidance note on court bundles.
• PD No 1 of 2026 also extended the Express financial remedies procedure to Stockport from 8 April 2026.
• The Family Mediation Voucher scheme will continue for the 2026-27 financial year, and it is anticipated that funding for it will continue until March 2029.

Rachel Rogers Head of Policy, Resolution

[email protected]