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Law Reform: Changing times

Lucy Loizou and Hannah Budd set out the potential options for marital agreements as considered in the Law Commission’s consultation paper ‘Some European jurisdictions do not allow couples to opt out by agreement of their obligations to ‘maintain’ one another after a divorce and a marital agreement can relate only to what would be perceived …
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Divorce: Outside the norm

In the conclusion to their two-part discussion Claire Glaister and Frances Bailey look at less commonly used divorce practice and procedure ‘An amended petition will not generally be appropriate where the parties have reconciled and subsequently separated.’ As with part one of this guide, references are to the relevant rules in the Family Proceedings Rules …
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International Focus: Crossing borders

Jonathan Harris considers the European and international aspects of Granatino v Radmacher and its aftermath ‘The so-called Brussels II bis Regulation normally requires an English court to entertain divorce proceedings in a broad range of circumstances, and has largely stripped the English courts of the discretion to weed out cases more appropriately heard overseas.’ Granatino …
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Same-Sex Parenting: Parenting paradoxes

Meredith Thompso n investigates the evolving, and slightly contradictory, position of same-sex parents ‘The European Court of Human Rights has stated that a Member State must be able to point to particularly convincing and weighty reasons to justify a difference in treatment between heterosexual and homosexual people.’Although, at the time of writing, we still await …
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Child Maintenance: Foreign finances

Melanie Barnes outlines the available options when dealing with international child maintenance ‘In non-EU cases even where a foreign country is not governed by Brussels I, the English court may still be bound by its rules.’As the numbers of family cases with an international element increases, there is greater need for expertise on child maintenance …
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Domestic Abuse: Assessing impact

Jane Wilson highlights the developing practice in children cases where there is a risk of domestic violence and harm ‘Domestic violence involves a very serious and significant failure in parenting – failure to protect the child’s carer and failure to protect the child emotionally (and in some cases physically – which meets any definition of …
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Divorce: Practice points

In the first of a two-part discussion, Claire Glaister and Frances Bailey look at procedure, practice and potential pitfalls when dealing with divorce proceedings ‘In the increasingly common situation of the parties having been married abroad, a foreign marriage certificate should be accompanied by a translation that has been authenticated by a notary.’ The purpose …
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Insolvency: Protecting assets

Emma Mould analyses the risks of failing to obtain a final ancillary relief order when dealing with an insolvent spouse ‘Where a person is adjudged bankrupt, any disposition of property made by that person in the period to which IA 1986 (s284) applies is void except to the extent that it is or was made …
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Embryology: End of the line

In the first of a two-part analysis of the regulation of embryology, Seamus Burns examines the role of recently culled Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority ‘Therefore creating, keeping or using an embryo for treatment without a licence from the HFEA, or undertaking research on an embryo or human admixed embryo without a licence, is a …
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