Four-year-old Elliana Shand became the subject of much concern after she went missing with her mother, Jessie Richards, whilst proceedings surrounding her future care were ongoing in the UK. Thankfully, Elliana was found safe in Spain with her mother earlier this month.
In November 2017 Mr Justice Hayden, a family court judge, voiced his concern... Read More
A Singaporean man, whose name has not been released because the case involves a minor, is set to appeal the Singaporean court’s decision which left him unable to adopt his biological son who was born via a surrogate in the United States in 2013. The Singaporean doctor, having previously been told that the Ministry of Social and Family... Read More
In 2009, businessman Mr Oleksander Yedin signed a deed with his partner promising to make certain financial provision for her upon their separation. Mrs Iryna Yedina sought to enforce that agreement in November 2017, claiming that her ex-partner had repudiated the agreement and that she is entitled to damages as a result. Following the... Read More
When determining the division of assets during financial proceedings, the courts assess the present and future needs of both parties as part of their considerations under section 25 of Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. HC v FW , a case brought before the High Court in November 2017, looked more closely at the assessment of needs where one party has... Read More
Global maintenance orders are a useful tool to enable the courts to order periodical payments to cover both spousal and child maintenance until a full assessment is made by the Child Maintenance Service. However, few cases have actually considered how such orders should work in practice and there are concerns that they contravene the Child... Read More
In November last year the BBC reported that a man who was in prison for sexually abusing his own children still had maintained parental responsibility over them. The previous month an abhorrent story broke in the US where a man who raped a 12-year-old girl and fathered her child had been awarded joint legal custody and visitation rights after... Read More
In January 2017, Mr Justice Peter Jackson dismissed a transgender woman's application for direct contact with her five children. However, after an appeal described as "of profound significance for the law in general and family law in particular" in its potential implications, the judge's decision to order indirect contact only has been... Read More
A group of researchers based at Harran University in Turkey have examined a 4000 year old Assyrian tablet comprising an ancient marriage contract. Assyrian marriage contracts are the earliest known prenuptial agreements in the world. The researchers believe that tablet, which was discovered at the UNESCO World Heritage site of... Read More