The Court of Appeal ruled that a woman was entitled to the full proceeds from the sale of a farm jointly owned with her bankrupt former husband, and should not lose part of it to pay her husband's creditors. One of the judges said that the ruling was based on his belief that she should be given the money to allow her to look after the couple's only child, a girl aged 10.
Source: Haines v Hill & Another, Court of Appeal 5 December 2007
Links: Text of judgement | FT report | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Dec
An article drew upon a recently completed research study to explore the fairness, efficiency, and effectiveness of dispute resolution schemes in litigated contact cases. It raised concerns about some of the limitations of in-court conciliation, and argued for the development of a more facilitative or educational-therapeutic approach to litigated contact cases.
Source: Liz Trinder and Joanne Kellett, 'Fairness, efficiency and effectiveness in court-based dispute resolution schemes in England', International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, Volume 21 Number 3
Links: Abstract | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Dec
A report highlighted the issue of relationship breakdown as a major cause of homelessness.
Source: Home Is Where The Heart Is: Homelessness and rebuilding relationships, St. Mungo's (020 8600 3003) and Relate
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Nov
Researchers found that in-court conciliation helped separating parents to reach their own agreements about contact with their children. Two years following conciliation the great majority (79 per cent) of cases had an agreement about contact and were closed. More children were having overnight contact and the overall amount of contact per child had increased since the initial conciliation intervention.
Source: The Longer-term Outcomes of In-court Conciliation, Research Report 15/07, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | MOJ press release | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Nov
A report by a committee of MPs said that a major shortcoming in efforts by the Legal Services Commission to increase the use of mediation had been the absence of a financial incentive for solicitors and other advisers to promote mediation to clients who might otherwise choose a court-based route.
Source: Legal Services Commission: Legal Aid and Mediation for People Involved in Family Breakdown, Fifty-first Report (Session 2006-07), HC 396, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Oct
A survey found that 33 per cent of people reported that either their parents had separated, or that they had separated from a partner with whom they had had children. Just 33 per cent of those affected by separation had received professional advice, mostly from solicitors. Three-quarters of those getting help say they needed more support.
Source: Kerry Watson and Becki Jarvis, Perception Survey 2007, Centre for Separated Families (08454 786360)
Links: Report | CSF press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Sep
The number of divorces in England and Wales fell by 6.5 per cent in 2006 to 132,562, according to provisional figures – the lowest number since 1977.
Source: Press release 30 August 2007, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: ONS press release | Tables | Relate press release | Resolution press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Aug
A report examined the factors influencing contact by children with a parent they no longer lived with. The quality of the current parental relationship was the main factor associated with contact occurrence and contact frequency, followed by child support receipt, the work status of the non-resident parent, and the status of the parental relationship prior to separation.
Source: Vicki Peacey and Tina Haux, Children?s Contact After Separation: Factors associated with contact, changes in contact, and the parents who become nonresident, One Parent Families/Gingerbread (020 7428 5400)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jul
A report (by an official advisory body) said that unmarried couples who split up should (in certain cases) be given the right to make divorce-style claims for financial support from their partners.
Source: Cohabitation: The Financial Consequences of Relationship Breakdown, Cm 7182, Law Commission, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Law Commission press release | Resolution press release | Guardian report | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2007-Jul
The government began a second round of consultation on plans to promote a culture of openness in family courts. Better information about family proceedings would be made available to the public: but the media would not (as previously proposed) be given an automatic right to attend family courts.
Source: Confidence & Confidentiality: Openness in Family Courts ? A New Approach, Cm 7131, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Consultation document | MOJ press release | OCC press release | Guardian report | Children Now report
Date: 2007-Jun
The Court of Appeal upheld a £48 million divorce award to the ex-wife of an insurance magnate - the biggest contested divorce payout in English legal history. The president of the High Court?s family division said that London was seen as the 'divorce capital of the world', because recent changes in the law meant that wives were favoured in divorce cases involving very large assets.
Source: Charman v Charman, Court of Appeal 24 May 2007
Links: Text of judgement | Resolution press release | FT report
Date: 2007-May
The Law Lords ruled dismissed an appeal by a man who claimed that, after co-habiting with his partner for 27 years, he was entitled to a half rather than a third of the house that they had bought in their joint names. Although the courts had comprehensive powers to divide a married couple's property according to their relative contributions while married, these powers did not apply to unmarried couples.
Source: Stack v Dowden, UKHL 17 (Session 2006-07), House of Lords Judicial Office (020 7219 3111)
Links: Text of judgement | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Apr
An audit report said that too many family breakdown cases were going to court rather than being settled through mediation. Family breakdown cases which were resolved through professional mediation were cheaper and quicker to settle. They also secured better outcomes, particularly for children, as they were less acrimonious. However, only 20 per cent of people in cases which were funded by legal aid opted for mediation, and over half went straight to the courts.
Source: Legal Aid and Mediation for People Involved in Family Breakdown, HC 256 (Session 2006-07), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | NAO press release | Telegraph report | Children Now report
Date: 2007-Mar
The government published the results of consultation on improving transparency and privacy in the family courts, including open family courts to the media. Children who gave their views overwhelmingly rejected the idea.
Source: Confidence and Confidentiality: Improving Transparency and Privacy in Family Courts - Response to Consultation, Cm 7036, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Consultation responses | Consultation document | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Mar