The Family Law newsletter provides you with all the latest news, judgments, articles and guidance to ensure you are up to date with the latest developments and their impact on practice.

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News

Standing alone: going to the family court without a lawyer
29 March 2016
The family courts are vital in helping people resolve a range of issues. However, the way people use them is changing. Since funding for legal aid was reduced in 2013, there has been an increase in the number of people going to the family courts without a lawyer (as a 'litigant in person').

The Civil Proceedings, Family Proceedings and Upper Tribunal Fees (Amendment) Order 2016
22 March 2016
The Civil Proceedings, Family Proceedings and Upper Tribunal Fees (Amendment) Order 2016 was published on 17 March 2016.

Articles

Anglo-Scottish spousal maintenance: a kingdom very gender disunited
David Hodson – @DMHodson
29 March 2016
A decision on 23 March 2016 (Re V (European Maintenance Regulation) [2016] EWHC 668) by the English High Court (Mrs Justice Parker) has made public what has been known by international family lawyers for many years: the financial treatment of wives as applicant spouses on divorce is incredibly different between England and Scotland.

Adoption: A vision for change?
Sarah Phillimore – @SVPhillimore
29 March 2016
On 27 March 2016 – Easter Sunday – the Department of Education released its policy paper setting out its vision for improving adoption rates. Broadly, it sets out progress regarding adoption since 2010, current challenges and how they will be met and the government’s vision for the adoption system by 2020.

English judges tell warring spouses 'resolve financial disputes without courts'
Hazel Wright – @HKW1981
24 March 2016
Most mediators and almost all family lawyers have heard clients say that there is no point in attending a meeting because they know their partner so well that it will be a waste of time.

This lawyer's life: sometimes a barrister, always a Lady
Rehna, barrister – @itsalawyerslife
23 March 2016
I was once offered a title. That's right, this column could have been brought to you by Baroness Rehna. Instead of jumping at the chance of some posh stationery however, I asked why. Why me?

Rapp v Sarre [2016] EWCA Civ 93: appealing an order after having failed to properly participate in the proceedings
Matthew Durman
23 March 2016
The Court of Appeal case of Rapp v Sarre [2016] EWCA Civ 93 received widespread national press coverage. The focus of this attention was the husband's argument that HHJ Everall QC in the Central Family Court had been wrong at first instance to take into account the husband's expenditure on cocaine and escorts (estimated by the judge at £600,000) when awarding the wife 54% of their £13.5m worth of assets.

Cohabitation: the role of ADR in property disputes
Claire Ward
21 March 2016
The cohabiting family continues to be the fastest-growing family type in the UK, with the latest statistics published by the ONS showing that cohabiting families in the UK have reached 3.2 million in 2015 which represents an increase of 29.7% in the last ten years.