Blog
From Certificates to Belief Statements: The CPS and the Limits of Forum Bar Intervention
Rebecca Niblock
12 August 2016
The case of Re Z: the pitfalls of informal surrogacy arrangements and the importance of transparency and trust
A recent case before the court provides a timely reminder of the pitfalls and difficulties which can arise as a result of informal surrogacy arrangements.
The case of Re Z [2016] EWFC 34 involved a baby boy (Z) born as a result of an informal surrogacy arrangement. The commissioning parents, a male same sex couple made contact with the eventual surrogate, X, via a Facebook forum. The commissioning parents and potential surrogate met only once and it was at this meeting that they presented X with a typed commercial surrogacy agreement they had found on the internet.
21 July 2016
Global and modern families not bound by borders – themes from the Culture, Dispute Resolution & the Modernised Family conference
I recently attended the conference “Culture, Dispute Resolution and the Modernised Family” organised by the International Centre for Family Law, Policy and Practice (‘the Centre’). The triennial conference was a truly international event, with 31 jurisdictions represented in total.
28 June 2016
Divorce in the digital age - avoiding the pitfalls of social media
Social media undeniably plays a huge part in our lives today. At the last count, I had six apps on my phone, four of which I use regularly to stay “connected” and all of which contribute to my digital footprint. Social media is a normal (some may say obsessive) part of most people’s modern day life.
Given that, it is hardly surprising that issues relating to social media arise in family cases. An increasing number of divorce petitions based on one party’s unreasonable behaviour now refer to social media, and the impact of social media doesn’t stop there. For many, social media offers a way to help them cope with marital breakdown through posts of support by online friends and followers. However it is used, it can prove to be a useful source of evidence in many cases and those using online profiles should be wary of the potential pitfalls.
7 June 2016
Moving counties or countries with children after separation - where to now?
There is a wealth of information available to separating families when they make the transition from a two parent family to being single parents and sharing the care of their children, but what happens when time moves on and separated parents start to settle into their new lives? As the months and years go by, new partners and new children may come into the picture or a parent may feel that they want to move on and start a new life. The effect of separation can often mean creating two houses out of one and families may well feel that an area which was perfect for them as a family is now not what they need as a single parent. It may be that the affordability of housing, difficulty getting into schools or lack of support network in the area pushes the parent with care to consider a move.
5 May 2016
Parenting after separation – co-parenting, parallel parenting and ways to make it work
If you have recently separated and are considering how you and your former partner will raise your children, you will no doubt have looked online and come across a wealth of information on the benefits of “co-parenting”. Co-parenting is, in its simplest definition, sharing the duties of raising a child. In reality, this usually means that the following dynamics exist between the parents: co-operation, communication, compromise and consistency, along with a strong ethos that the child’s needs should be placed before the parents’. Effective co-parenting is usually not immediate and it can take many years of hard work to create. However, many are willing to put in this effort as co-parenting is clearly portrayed as the “gold standard” of post-separation parenting.
But is co-parenting achievable in every situation?
