Family Law Cafe - This Weeks Newsletter 10.12.2024
Joanna Toch
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Here is this week's family law round-up.
Divorce Finances: Act Reasonably or Pay the Price
When emotions run high during divorce, unreasonable actions can backfire. A recent case shows why fair play is essential.
A husband’s unilateral decision to empty joint accounts and control financial arrangements led his wife to seek interim maintenance from the Court. She requested additional funds for rent security and a holiday, citing fears about her husband's financial reliability. While the Court sided with the wife on her need for rent security, it denied her claim for holiday expenses, determining they were unaffordable. This case highlights how unilateral financial actions can backfire, forcing legal intervention.
Interestingly, despite both parties claiming victory, the court declined to order either to pay the other's legal costs. The husband’s “objectionable” behaviour and the wife’s unreasonable holiday demand were deemed equally culpable, illustrating the importance of 'reasonability' in legal disputes. The ruling serves as a reminder: couples navigating financial settlements should strive for fairness to avoid unnecessary complications and expenses.
Trapped by Finance: The Hidden Crisis of Economic Abuse
Nearly one in seven women in the UK experience economic abuse, with financial control often trapping them in harmful relationships. The consequences are severe, ranging from homelessness to mental health crises, as victims face life without access to money or stability. This mirrors our recent discussion on how increased capital gains tax could further hinder economic abuse victims from leaving toxic relationships. Charities and initiatives like TSB’s emergency “flee fund” are stepping up to help women escape and rebuild their lives, highlighting the urgent need for greater awareness and action against this hidden crisis.
Full story: Care Appointments.
Counselling charity Relate goes into administration
Britain’s biggest relationship counselling charity is on the verge of insolvency after failing to overcome financial difficulties caused by a collapse in funding from NHS, school and local authority contracts. Full story: The Guardian.
Judge warns divorcing couple they risk financial ruin
A judge has pleaded with a divorcing couple to rein in their legal spending before they run out of money altogether. Full story: Law Society Gazette.
Safeguarding experts demand national action plan to tackle child sexual abuse
A national child safeguarding practice review has investigated the experiences of 193 children who were sexually abused by a family member. Full story: Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.
New measures to protect victims of domestic abuse
Domestic abusers will be ordered to stay away from their victims and face tougher restrictions with the launch of new protective orders today (28 November). Full story: Ministry of Justice.
Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2024
Figures on domestic abuse from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, police recorded crime and a number of different organisations. Full story: Office for National Statistics.
Parental Order Granted Despite Surrogate’s Incapacity to Consent
It is a fundamental principle of surrogacy law in the UK that a parental order should ordinarily require the consent of the woman who carried and gave birth to the child—a recognition of her vital role and autonomy. But what happens when a surrogate is unable to provide consent due to incapacity? In a recent case, the Court grappled with this challenging scenario, ultimately granting a parental order, carefully balancing the surrogate’s circumstances with the child’s welfare as the paramount consideration.
R & Anor v A & Anor [2024] EWFC 341 (27 November 2024): Bailii.
Child Abduction
• Application by father for summary return of child to the USA. Mother's defences of habitual residence, acquiescence and harm not made out, and return ordered. K v M [2024] EWHC 3081 (Fam) (29 November 2024): Bailii.
• Application by father for return of children to Norway, issued nearly 4 years after they were brought here. Found that father consented to the children's removal. Application refused. D v D & Ors [2024] EWHC 2687 (Fam) (24 October 2024): Bailii.
Child Arrangements
• Final hearing of private law children proceedings, following a number of serious findings of abuse against the father. Ordered that father have indirect contact only. E v Y [2024] EWFC 348 (27 November 2024): Bailii.
• Fact-finding in private law proceedings, concerning the mother's allegations of abuse by the father. Some allegations found proven. AS, BS & CS (Children) (Finding of Fact and Non-Molestation Order dismissed), Re [2024] EWFC 349 (B) (11 November 2024): Bailii.
Children Care Cases
• Final hearing of care proceedings concerning child under age of one, whose mother is unable to care for her. Child placed with maternal uncle and his wife, who live in the UAE, under special guardianship order. D, Re (International SGO) [2024] EWFC 353 (28 November 2024): Bailii.
• Care proceedings concerning child whose mother died before she was born, and whose father is in prison. Found that threshold criteria still met, and Interim Care Order made. W (A Minor), Re (Death of Mother Before Birth of Child: Threshold Criteria) [2024] EWFC 350 (28 November 2024): Bailii.
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