Tickets available for fourth annual Domestic Abuse Conference
The fourth year of a conference considering the impact of domestic abuse on family law practitioners and professionals from across the family community will return for its fourth year in Bristol. Watkins Solicitors is to hosted its annual Domestic Abuse Conference on Friday 7th November at the Watershed, Bristol with tickets on sale now. The […]
HMCTS IT bug could have caused documents to go missing or appear lost
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has acknowledged a ‘bug’ in its software used to manage civil, family and tribunal courts could have resulted evidence going missing, being overwritten or appearing to be lost. The agency has been accused of a ‘cover up’ over the system failure which a leaked report claims took ‘several years’ […]
Father sentenced to 6 months’ prison for ‘deliberate and persistent’ breaches of court orders
A high court ruling, heard by Mrs Justice Lieven DBE, has sentenced a father to six months in prison for repeated breaches of court orders relating to the abduction and continued retention of his daughter in Iran. The case, AA (Mother) v XX (Father) [2025] EWHC 2165 (Fam) began with the father, XX, an Iranian […]
Cohabitees to be unfairly impacted by inclusion of pensions in estates for IHT
The value of future inheritance planning has been outlined by wealth manager and financial advisers Quilter who estimate a working-age single homeowner in England with an average-priced home and ‘moderate’ pension pot could be liable for over £82,000 in inheritance tax (IHT) once the current proposals to include pension savings within an estate for IHT […]
Mystery surrounds claims to LAA hack as ransom deadline comes and goes
A group of cyber hackers who claim to be responsible for the attack on the Legal Aid Agency has threatened to publish the data gathered through the cyber attack unless one of their members is ‘freed’. First reported in The Times, the group, which calls itself the ShinyHunters, has publicly claimed credit for the attack […]
£15m divorce case a warning to those who might wish to conceal assets
A sham trust hid significant assets a High Court ruling has found resulting in an award worth £15m being transferred from an ex husband to his wife. Mario Michael was a prolific property investor and developer in North London who had an interest in over 200 properties. Divorce proceedings against Mr Michael were commenced by […]
Bigamist’s estate to be split between ‘former’ and ‘current’ spouse after high court claim
A man who was legally married to his previous partner and married a second is at the centre of an inheritance dispute following his death from cancer in 2020. Accountant James Dinsdale’s £1.8m estate is the subject of a high court battle between his ‘current; wife, beautician Margaret Dinsdale and his ‘previous wife Dr Victoria […]
SRA awards £360,000 for disadvantaged candidates to take SQE
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has awarded £360,000 to 11 organisations to support people from disadvantaged backgrounds with the cost of sitting the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). The organisations provide a range of legal, educational and social mobility services across England and Wales, ranging from making the legal industry more accessible to people from underrepresented […]
46 words costs couple £37,000 in contested financial remedy case
A contested private financial remedy cost a couple £37,000 over just 46 words in a decision over whether a husband was entitled to refer to events which took place at a private FDR. In a contested financial remedy, Justice Peel considered the case of BC v BC [2025] EWFC 236 following contested financial remedy proceedings […]
Rise in grandparents caught up in children’s disputes
An Edinburgh-based charity has helped more than 250 grandparents who have sought information and help over the last nine years over alienation from their grandchildren. A review of the Shared Parenting Scotland database has revealed the charity has helped grandparents with information on behalf of their son or daughter whose relationship has broken down and […]
Charity launches training to help family professionals better understand coercive control and abuse
A charity based in Sheffield has launched a CPD-certified training programme for legal professionals to help with better understanding impact of coercive control and post-separation abuse. Charity Mums In Need offers long-term, trauma-informed support to mothers experiencing post-separation abuse. The newly launched training, entitled ‘Confronting Coercive Control and Post-Separation Abuse’ is tailored to legal professionals, […]
LAA says data breach goes as far back as 2007
The cyber attack on the Legal Aid Agency could have been bigger than first thought with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) now admitting it thinks data as far back as 2007 could have been compromised. The attack occurred on 23rd April 2025 and was first reported in early May this year. A subsequent update later […]
Inquiry into access to justice launched by Justice Committee
The Justice Committee has launched an inquiry into how advice and legal services are adapting to secure access to justice across civil, criminal, and family law. MPs on the cross-party Committee, which is chaired by Labour MP Andy Slaughter, will examine the current state of the legal services and representation market, and access to justice. […]
98% of family public law applications now submitted digitally – HMCTS
His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) say they received over 560,000 cases in the Family Court and held over 98,000 sitting days in the most recently published HMCTS Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25. The report identifies progress in work done within HMCTS since 2016 to digitise much of the service, with over 500,000 divorce […]
Twofold increase in the number of parental order applications for older surrogates
The number of parental order applications from older parents of children born through surrogates has increased markedly in recent years according to a freedom of information request. Although actual numbers will not be released for fear of identification of the individuals involved, there have been parental order applications from men aged 70-79 and women aged […]
Parliament hears of need for regulation of online fertility providers
A proposal to introduce a bill to regulate online providers of fertility and ancillary services by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has been introduced to Parliament under the ‘ten-minute rule’. The motion for leave to bring in a Bill was proposed by Caroline Dinenage, Conservative MP for Gosport and Chair of the Culture, […]
Government rolls out domestic abuse agenda with £53m investment in Drive Partnership
The government is to invest a further £53m into its pilot tackling domestic abuse perpetrators, rolling out to15 new areas by March 2026, with full roll-out across England and Wales to follow. The Drive Project has been piloted since 2016 to address the root causes of abuse, targeting perpetrators and using intensive one-to-one case management […]
LSCP urges regulators to act on unbundling as Tracker Survey finds numbers at record high
More people than ever are ‘unbundling’ legal services, with one in five consumers dividing the tasks that need to be carried with their solicitors. The highest incidences of the practice were found in probate, trademarks, employment and immigration law, where more than a third of consumers took on some of the legal work. The figures […]
Courts will take into account sustained coercive behaviour in deciding whether nuptial agreements are binding
In a decision that sees the third largest divorce settlement in English legal history, a wife has been awarded £230m after the court decided a post-nuptial agreement was signed without proper legal advice, financial disclosure, and under undue pressure. The case centres on wife PN and husband SA, a serial entrepreneur who had accumulated significant […]
Deprivation of Liberty orders ‘high’ over last 18 months
The number of Deprivation of Liberty (DoL) orders in the first quarter of 2025 is broadly consistent with previous quarters and remains ‘high’ according to the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO). The latest numbers have been published in the quarterly family court statistics which show 321 children were subject to DoL from January to March […]