Blog
Kingsley Napley’s Medical Negligence Team ‘walks together’ with the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity
Sharon Burkill
8 July 2013
Summer surge in children applications - dealing with the queues in Court
Today, CAFCASS (The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) confirmed receipt of 4,267 new private law referrals for the month of June, representing a 29% increase on the figures for the same month last year. Last month’s report confirmed that 5,038 cases were referred in May 2013, which was the highest amount on record. These figures show that, after a slight lull in 2011 (after the introduction of compulsory Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAMs) in 2010), private law children applications are on the increase.
29 April 2013
Family justice reforms: The demise of legal aid, the rise of the litigant in person and what lies ahead for family law
The government overhaul of legal aid (public funding) came into force on 1 April 2013 and is due to affect the entire justice system. Criminal barristers have begun striking, court staff are already striking and, with the family court system at breaking point, litigation is becoming even more of a last resort for privately paying clients.
22 April 2013
Universal Credit – to be reduced pound for pound by spousal maintenance
Labelled ‘the biggest shake up of the welfare system for a generation’, Universal Credit is a new welfare benefit in the United Kingdom that will replace seven of the main means-tested benefits and tax credits.
In cases relying upon means tested benefits, family lawyers will struggle to estimate the timing or quantum of any impact upon receipt of benefits or the future entitlement of their client or client’s spouse. It will be crystal ball gazing to attempt to predict with any accuracy the payments that will be received after the changes have been implemented or when they will take effect in the appropriate region. Most crucial, however, is the treatment of unearned income under the new Universal Credit system. There will be a pound for pound reduction in Universal Credit Support for income received from ‘Universal Credit Equivalents’, which includes pension income from early retirement and most notably for family lawyers, spousal maintenance payments.
27 March 2013
« Intolérable Cruauté » et l’incertitude des « pre-nuptial agreements » en Angleterre et au Pays de Galles
La résolution du divorce Ashton Kutcher et Demi Moore s’approche et nous savons maintenant qu'il n'existe pas de contrat prénuptial applicable (contraire au film des frères Coen du nom ci-dessus). Hollywood étant ce qu'elle est, la comédienne, qui a connu le plus fort succès de sa génération, voit la fin de sa carrière s’approcher et Ashton est maintenant le jeune mâle et le plus riche des deux. Demi semble chercher dans le divorce une partie de sa fortune. Elle était après tout, lors de leur rencontre, une actrice réputée à Hollywood et avait alors donné à la carrière d’Ashton une longueur d'avance.
14 March 2013
Dignified divorce - reforming the blame game
It is rare for there to be contested divorces. It involves the distressing situation in which one party argues that the marriage can be saved in spite of the other party’s assertion that it has broken down irretrievably. In a recent case, a husband tried to prevent a divorce after his wife based the petition on an argument about her map reading skills whilst on a wine tasting holiday in Burgundy (presumably amongst other things). He claimed that his wife had not provided the judge with anything that proved the marriage had irretrievably broken down. However, the court refused the husband permission to appeal and allowed the divorce to proceed.
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