Blog
Kingsley Napley’s Medical Negligence Team ‘walks together’ with the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity
Sharon Burkill
13 October 2016
The Children Act 25 years on - and why the laws on cohabiting couples need reform
This week sees the 25th anniversary of the implementation of the Children Act 1989, arguably the most important piece of family legislation we have seen in the last 100 years. It profoundly changed the law affecting children. Tucked away, at Schedule 1 to the Act, was an equally important change, setting out unmarried parents’ rights to financial provision for their children from their former partner.
23 September 2016
Mediating megastars – keeping it private and solution focused
News of megastars Brad Pitt’s and Angelina Jolie’s divorce has dominated newspapers and social media worldwide this week and is a timely reminder of how people in the public eye have to deal with intense media interest in the difficulties they face in their private lives.
One of the best ways to ensure that the terms of any divorce, whether high profile or not, are kept out of the press is to conduct proceedings in an entirely private forum such as mediation, using a private judge or arbitration. As practising mediators, we assist clients in resolving issues outside of court and regularly advise them about the benefits of mediation.
19 September 2016
Divorce in England and the UAE – the uncertainty of two discretionary divorce jurisdictions
In the year that coercive and controlling behaviour became a new basis for criminal prosecutions in England and Wales, it was interesting to read the recent blog by Hassan Elhais “Can I divorce my husband because he beat me?”, in which he reports that a criminal conviction that constitutes harm can be used as a ground for divorce in the UAE.
14 September 2016
Divorce and summertime blues in the UAE
The idea that spending time with family at Christmas triggers marriage breakdown has always been overshadowed by the tensions for many of the long summer holidays. In the UAE, the summer has been very long indeed this year, starting with Ramadan in early June followed by the annual “migration” during the hottest summer months and now the holidays associated with Eid. Coupled with the economic pressures and uncertainties that have marched in time with the fall in oil prices, many ex-patriot families are thinking of heading home for good and some about divorce.
31 August 2016
Options in the English courts for ‘illegitimate’ children living in the UAE
It comes as a surprise to many that it is not possible to bring any action or present any agreement to a court in the UAE in respect of a child born out of marriage (sometimes rather unkindly referred to as ‘illegitimate children’). This fact was established in the proceedings leading to the recent Court of Appeal decision in Re B (Children) [2015] EWCA Civ 1302, which was a case involving the relocation of two children to the UAE from England.
- 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