Blog
Kingsley Napley’s Medical Negligence Team ‘walks together’ with the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity
Sharon Burkill
9 June 2025
Pride in the paths to parenthood
In honour of Pride Month, we are discussing (and celebrating) the diverse paths to parenthood within the LGBTQ+ community. For couples or individuals looking to start a family, there are a number of options available, each with important factors and implications to consider. This short blog touches on some of those considerations.
3 June 2025
Cross border planning: the French PACS
We are seeing that most HNW advisors regularly signpost clients to the importance of entering into a prenuptial agreement prior to marriage. From our perspective, prenuptial agreements have been rising in popularity, in particular following the 2010 Supreme Court judgment in Radmacher v Granantino, and rightly so. These agreements offer a useful planning tool and can, when drafted appropriately, remove the uncertainty and conflict of contentious divorce proceedings. Alongside the pre-wedding planning, it is important to recognise the need for legal agreements prior to the start of other relationships, or before an international relocation. A prime example of this, which we are seeing more frequently in our practice, is in relation to the French PACS status.
21 May 2025
Further High Court guidance for intended parents embarking on surrogacy arrangements
Kingsley Napley represented the applicant parents in the case of Mr and Mrs K v Mr and Mrs Z [2025] EWHC 927 (Fam). The High Court judgment offers importance guidance for those who are intending on entering into a surrogacy arrangement in the future.
26 February 2025
French marriage contracts in England – are we finally aligned across the channel?
The English Channel, La Manche, is only 350 miles long, separating England from France. When looking at divorce principles however, we have historically been oceans apart from France, with significant differences in outcome depending whether the proceedings have taken place in France or in England. French law is based on a civil code, with divorce law applying property regimes to the division of assets, which is often incompatible with the common law, discretionary system in England. In the early years of my Anglo-French practice, French couples living in England were often taken aback to learn that the property regime they chose when they signed their French marriage contract might not be applied by English judges if they divorced in England.
24 February 2025
When might you want to have a prenuptial agreement?
Following the launch of Nuptial, a new service which provides advice on entering into, amending, or contesting pre or post nuptial agreements, we look at the Law Commission’s Scoping Report and some of the different situations that couples are using nuptial agreements.
- Children
- Civil Partnerships & Co-habitation
- Divorce & Separation
- Financial Settlements
- International Adoption & Surrogacy
- International Family Law
- Mediation & Alternatives to Litigation
- Pre-nuptial & Post-nuptial Agreements
- Anglo French Family Law
- Legal Updates
- Reflections on The Split
- Child Relocation after Divorce or Separation