Mortlake Law and Mediation

11/11/2024

It is tempting to sub-sell interests in a property to your spouse to avoid paying Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). However, such a scheme could, in fact, backfire and result in a higher consideration being paid, as demonstrated in this case.

It is tempting to sub-sell interests in a property to your spouse to avoid paying Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). However, such a scheme could, in fact, backfire and result in a higher consideration being

04/11/2024

The High Court (HC) recently heard an appeal against a Family Court Order (FCO) permitting a mother to relocate with her child.

28/10/2024

The High Court was faced with this very unusual question when a mother did not seek to sequester the father’s property to pay the money she was owed, but rather to fund the costs of her litigation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), following the abduction of her daughter and the failure of the father to comply with the return orders issued.

25/10/2024

Even though this judgement is from a lower English court, and therefore not binding, it shows clearly how embedded the obligation to mediate is becoming in the UK, even in the absence of legislative obligations such as those that exist in Ireland. The Churchill case has obviously contributed significantly to this, but it is interesting how broadly that decision appears to be being interpreted.

Barny over a Barn In June, an English court tackled the refusal by the (ultimately successful) defendants not to engage in mediation, with painful results for those defendants. (Conway v Conway

21/10/2024

The High Court heard an appeal against interim orders, one of which dispense with Financial Dispute Resolution (FDR) and proceed straight to a final hearing.

14/10/2024

Financial provision after an overseas divorce is regulated under Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 (MFPA 1984). For the dissolution of a civil partnership, the financial provisions may be found under Sch 7 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (CPA 2004). If the spouses or civil partners have a connection with England and Wales, they may be able to access financial remedies in this country if the Court considers it appropriate to make such an order. Moreover, the overseas divorce or dissolution must be recognised as valid in England and Wales.

07/10/2024

The High Court rejected a father’s request for a non-therapeutic circumcision of his son who is subject to a care order.

30/09/2024

The question is often raised as to whether a step-parent living with their partner's child can acquire parental responsibility and, if so, how. The law is clear that a step-parent who is either married to, or else is the civil partner of a parent of a child who has parental responsibility may apply for an order for parental responsibility or enter into a parental responsibility agreement (PRA). According to the explanatory notes to the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (ACA 2002), itself an amendment of the Children Act 1989 via the inclusion of Section 4A(1), such a possibility has been included to offer an alternative to adoption. The main advantages for the child are that such a process does not remove parental responsibility from the other birth parent and the child is not legally separate from membership of the family of their birth parent. They also are entitled to inherit from their other birth parent, which is not the case if they are adopted and the will is not clear as demonstrated in Coulson v Paul [2024].

23/09/2024

The High Court quashed a lower court decision due to serious procedural errors and the perception of potential harm to the children.

16/09/2024

The High Court was faced with the delicate question of whether parental consent was sufficient for the treatment and restraint of a 12-year-old suffering from severe anorexia nervosa.

09/09/2024

This was the overarching question at the heart of the decision in Armeniakou vs Thomson, whereby the High Court was asked to apply a worldwide freeing order relating to substantial cryptocurrency assets in aid of proceedings about to be commenced in Greece. The dispute arose from a matrimonial ancillary relief proceeding under Section 25 of the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982.

This was the overarching question at the heart of the decision in Armeniakou vs Thomson, whereby the High Court was asked to apply a worldwide freeing order relating to substantial cryptocurrency

02/09/2024

The High Court considered the scope of the ‘intolerable situation’ that it must consider under Article 13(b) of the Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the 1980 Hague Convention).

The High Court considered the scope of the ‘intolerable situation’ that it must consider under Article 13(b) of the Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction