Legal aid: Parents’ access to advice set to be widened following High Court ruling
The High Court has overturned a refusal of legal aid in a ruling that means parents who share caring arrangements for their children are now more likely to qualify for legal aid. The Public Law Project’s brought the case on behalf of domestic abuse survivor “Susie” who sought legal aid to enforce a child custody […]
CMS: Judicial review hearing of ‘persistent failure’ given green light
A legal case challenging the “persistent failure” of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to take “proper or effective steps” to recover maintenance payments from absent parents has been given the green light to go ahead to a full judicial review hearing. The claimants in the case – single parents who complain of persistent inefficiencies in […]
Mental Capacity Act: MoJ won’t alter child savings account access rules
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the Mental Capacity Act 2005 will not be altered to make it simpler for parents to access child savings accounts after the child turns 18 years old. Instead, the Ministry of Justice will raise awareness around the necessity of obtaining legal authority prior to a child turning 18 […]
Stowe Family Law announces latest acquisition
Stowe Family Law has announced the acquisition of the south east firm Watson Thomas Solicitors. According to the firm, divorce inquiries have increased as a result of the pandemic and the rising cost of living, and this newest move will “increase its ability to meet client demand”. With over 120 specialised family lawyers, Stowe was […]
Police in the UK ‘missed hundreds of sex offenders’
729 sex offenders went missing or were sought for arrest between 2019 and 2021, according to the Freedom of Information requests made by BBC News to 45 police forces. Abuse victims have urged the government to pass new legislation prohibiting sex offenders from changing their identities. According to the BBC Shared Data Unit, almost 1,500 […]
Compulsory mediation: MoJ expects 700% uptick in workload
According to a senior civil servant, the workload of HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s small claims mediation service will rise seven times if mediation becomes required for claims under £10,000. The small slims mediation service of HMCTS, which offers free telephone mediation for claims under £10,000, would start to be a “standard part of core […]
Don’t you need to work in the city to get good work?
I live in South Somerset and am based at a firm in Wiltshire. Whilst we have a London office, the majority of my clients live within a 50-mile or so radius to our main office in Wiltshire. So does this mean I do not have exposure to interesting work? Far from it! Believe it or […]
In the Yellow Chair: Parental alienation
In the latest iteration of In the Yellow Chair, Tom Nash – also known as Mr Divorce Coach – offers his perspective on the concept of parental alienation in cases of separation. The concept of parental alienation is somewhat novel in many aspects. As a passenger on the emotional journey of somebody who has separated, […]
The end of forum shopping and delayed service in divorce?
It has now been almost a year since the change in divorce legislation to introduce “no-fault divorce” in April 2022. Much of the focus over the last year has been the zeitgeist of change away from fault based divorce applications and towards a modernised language (saying goodbye to using anachronistic terms like Decree Absolute, Decree […]
