No-fault divorce: Petitions soar following April’s legislation
Ministry of Justice (MoJ) publishes Family Court statistics for April-June 2022 Divorce The statistics revealed an exponential rise in divorce petitions between April and June 2022 following the introduction of the new no-fault legislation in April of this year. In this period, there were 33,234 applications made under the new law – 78% from sole […]
Department for Education responds to criticism of the Adoption system
The Department for Education (DfE) have provided an update to Today’s Family Lawyer on the implementation of its Adoption Strategy and criticism of the adoption system. In July 2021 the Department for Education announced an Adoption Strategy in order “to deliver excellence in adoption services across England” by working with adoption agencies to “ensure that […]
Victims Bill: Justice Committee’s concerns echoed across the board
The Justice Committee of the House of Commons has published a report on its pre-legislative scrutiny of the Government’s draft Victims Bill, with the Committee – and subsequently others, including Women’s Aid and the Children’s Commissioner – voicing their concerns. In principle, the report found that that the draft Bill will have limited effect on police […]
Panel finds numerous failings in local authority responses to domestic abuse
A briefing form the “Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel” has been released as part of a series of publications to highlight work undertaken from safeguarding partners and those working in child protection. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 sets out that children are victims of domestic abuse in their own right, when it is perpetrated against […]
Study reveals extent of women being killed by coercive and controlling partners
More than half of domestic homicides also experienced coercive and controlling behaviour A study has revealed the extent of victims killed by their current or ex-partners. The study by Manchester Metropolitan University reviewed more than 300 cases of domestic homicide in England and Wales between 2012 and 2018. In more than half of the cases […]
Cases of domestic violence to rise this winter, social workers report
Overwhelming majority of social workers claim domestic violence and divorces set to increase Due to rising energy bills nine in 10 social workers are warning that cases of domestic violence are set to rise. Following a survey of 242 social workers around the country, nine in 10 believe cases of domestic abuse will rise, with […]
What you may not know about the Forced Marriage statistics
At the beginning of August, The Forced Marriage Unit published statistics on the number of cases reported to it in 2021, both via its public helpline, and email. The Forced Marriage Unit advise support those who are in or are potentially likely to find themselves in a forced marriage. They revealed that they received 337 […]
Are family lawyers now subject to the anti-money laundering regime?
The anti-money laundering (“AML”) regime for law firms has now been in place for 20 years, starting with the coming into force of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”) followed by a succession of Money Laundering Regulations (MLR). Over that time the regime has become progressively more detailed and its enforcement stricter, with the […]
Common Law marriage: Myth v reality
As the amount of co-habiting couples and blended families increases so does the misconception that co-habitation creates a “common-law” marriage. In reality, simply co-habiting with a partner, does not automatically provide an individual with the financial protection they may require should tragedy strike. In the event of tragedy, if no Will has been made, whilst […]
