CPS figures show “worrying trend” for domestic abuse victims
Domestic abuse incidents continue to remain high in England and Wales and it is extremely concerning to see the figures released by the Crown Prosecution Service today appear to show we are going in entirely the wrong direction for victims when it comes to the criminal justice system. The figures show that the volume of […]
Report reveals seismic impact of pandemic on children’s social care
Recent findings of a report published by Ofsted have highlighted the difficulties facing children’s social care during and following the pandemic, with the key takeaway being that the services are still to recover from its effects. The report, “Children’s social care 2022: recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic”, draws on inspections, focus groups, published data, and […]
Forced Marriage Unit reports falling number of cases for 2021
The number of cases in which the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) gave advice or support has dropped for each of the last four years, declining from 1,507 in 2018 to 337 in 2021. However, despite the numbers from 2020-2021 showing a decline from 759 cases of forced marriage or FGM to 400, there was a […]
20% of family disputes don’t belong in court – McFarlane
Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division of courts in England and Wales, has issued a blunt reminder to parents that courts are not the best place to resolve “relationship disputes” which are at the root of many disagreements about how to share parenting of children after divorce or separation. Sir Andrew was speaking on […]
SRA begins research into unregulated legal services sector
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has commissioned independent research to take an in-depth look into the unreserved legal services market across England and Wales. This comes just weeks after the Legal Services Board declined to undertake its own statutory review into the sector. The research will seek to: Better understand the size and scope of […]
Couples urged to agree to Marriage Allowance proposal
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is urging married couples to sign up for the Marriage Allowance, which could help save £252 a year. This will help partners share personal tax allowances between them if one of the couple earns below the Personal Allowance threshold of £12,570, whilst the other pays a basic rate of […]
National Surrogacy Week: an analysis of Jennings v HFEA [2022]
Extended feature: commentary on Jennings v Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority [2022] EWHC 1619 (Fam) To mark National Surrogacy Week (1st to 7th August), Natalie Sutherland, partner at Burgess Mee Family Law, considers recently reported cases that deal with the tricky issues arising out of surrogacy. These cases often tackle novel aspects of this modern […]
How will a court deal with business assets on divorce?
The value of business assets will be taken into consideration on divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership. As part of the financial disclosure process, it will be necessary for parties to provide copies of the full sets of the financial accounts for the business for the last two years together with details of all […]
