9. Private law disputes and issues in children cases

This examines how the courts deal with private law issues or disputes relating to children’s upbringing, such as post-separation residence or contact disputes, or other specific issues, including international child abduction. It begins by setting out some general principles for deciding children cases which are contained in section 1 of the Children Act 1989, and procedural matters relating to such cases.

8. Children’s rights

This chapter introduces some theoretical discussions concerning children’s rights and examines some ‘core’ legal provisions. It also looks at the case law related to which the issue of the legal protection of children’s interests has been explored. The focus is on the child’s right to make his or her own decisions as a possible limitation on parental responsibility, explored principally in the context of children’s medical treatment.

7. A child’s parents: parentage, parenthood, and parental responsibility

This chapter examines the law on legal parenthood (including establishing paternity) and the allocation, acquisition, nature and scope of parental responsibility. The law has had to address a number of questions in light of medical advances and social change. Who is a child’s mother when a woman gives birth to a child conceived as a result of egg donation by another woman? How is the law on surrogacy to be regulated? Can a female-to-male transsexual person become a child’s father via assisted conception (or indeed a mother if he gives birth)? Is a mother’s same-sex partner to be recognised as her child’s parent too? If so, in what sense? As this last question suggests, the law’s response is also complicated by the fact that the notion of ‘being a parent’ has several different facets.

6. Financial support for children

This chapter discusses the law governing child support. Child support is regulated by one or more of several statutes depending on the circumstances: the Child Support Act 1991 (CSA 1991), as amended; Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989; the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973; and the Civil Partnership Act 2004. The applicability of the CSA 1991 in a particular case can limit to some extent the use of the other statutes mentioned.

5. Property disputes when non-formalised relationships breakdown

This chapter explores how the family finances are dealt with following the breakup between cohabitants in non-formal relationships. In particular, it considers property law disputes between cohabitants on relationship breakdown and the application of the law of trusts to determine the resolution of such disputes. As these are principles of general application which have not been designed specifically to deal with the financial consequences of relationship breakdown between cohabitants, the chapter highlights how they are generally regarded as inadequate to resolve family property disputes, producing unfair outcomes in certain situations.

3. Protection from domestic abuse and occupation of the family home

This chapter considers the civil law remedies which are designed to protect a victim from domestic abuse. The two primary protective orders under Part IV of the Family Law Act (FLA) 1996 are the non-molestation order and the occupation order which can be applied for and obtained in conjunction with each other, or separately. The chapter discusses the fact that the occupation order can also be used to regulate occupation of the family home in non-violent situations when a dispute arises between family members about who is entitled to occupy the home, and on what basis.

1. The formation of adult relationships

This chapter examines the law surrounding the formation of the formal relationships of marriage and civil partnership, including the law on nullity. It also explores, by way of contrast, non-formal cohabiting relationships. Topics discussed include void and voidable marriages, sham marriages, forced marriages; the development of gay and lesbian rights; the road to same-sex marriage and the extension of civil partnership to opposite-sex couples; and the legal consequences of marriage.

4. Financial remedies on divorce and dissolution

This chapter examines the legal framework which determines the distribution of money and property between spouses or civil partners on divorce or dissolution. The chapter considers the background to the current law before providing an in-depth analysis of the relevant legislative framework under the MCA 1973 and important case law guiding the courts’ exercise of discretion, including in respect of pensions and the matrimonial home. The chapter also considers the enforceability of, and weight given to, separation agreements and pre-nuptial agreements.

2. The dissolution of adult relationships

This chapter addresses the termination of adult relationships, in particular divorce, but also the dissolution of civil partnerships, and the termination of cohabitation. Beginning with a discussion of the history of law on divorce and recent divorce statistics, it goes on to cover the law of divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act (MCA) 1973, criticisms of the current law and recent reform initiatives. It then considers other decrees under MCA 1973, dissolution of a civil partnership, and termination of unmarried relationships.

10. Children needing services, care, and protection

This chapter examines the relationship between children, parents, and the state, looking at how the law responds to children needing services, care, and protection. Topics discussed include: Part III of the Children Act 1989; the threshold for compulsory intervention in family life based on the concept of ‘significant harm’; protecting children in an emergency; care and supervision orders; the local authority’s care plan and respective roles of the local authority and court; and discharge of care orders.