April 2013 #125 – Law Journals

In Practice: Always a privilege?

Helen Cort examines the nature of without prejudice communications, competing public interests and privilege in ADR It appears that while mediation involving children matters does attract special protection, there is not a blanket exemption covering all mediation. Family lawyers will be familiar with without prejudice communications, but how often is a query raised as to …

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Contact: Seeking solutions

Anna Hunter assesses the courts’ approach to problematic contact and potential enforcement options Presenting persuasive evidence that the child’s wishes are a result of one parent’s hostility will be time consuming, as well as emotionally and often financially draining for the parent seeking contact. When giving judgment in Re G (children) [2006], Baroness Hale said: …

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Adoption: Adopting change

Rachel Cook sets out the radical changes in progress to improve adoption rates The government wants prospective adopters to have a much greater role in initiating matches. The concept of adoption activity days is highlighted as an example of good practice. At the end of January 2013, the government published its latest radical proposals for …

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Emergency Remedies: The big freeze

Jo Hall details best practice and recent case law on freezing order applications These are applications that require quick thinking and deft handling, often under time pressure. An application for a without notice freezing order is a remedy of last resort to be most carefully applied. Practitioners should be wary of the potential consequences of …

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International Focus: Across the channel

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Monique Fauchon highlights how same-sex marriage proposals in Britain and France shine a spotlight on the need for consistency across different jurisdictions’ legal systems The French system sees no difference between legitimate and illegitimate children – children are still entitled to inherit equally from both parents whether they were married or not. The issue of …

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Substantial Assets: Setting ground rules

Max Lewis looks at the lessons to be learnt from Evans v Evans on managing expectations, contributions and add-back argument The court retains jurisdiction to decide the true nature of an order and must assess what the parties agreed against the ‘objective factual matrix of what occurred during the relevant period’. Moylan J’s judgment in …

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Financial Provision: Predictions on Prest

Kirstie Law outlines the background in Prest v Prest and the issues before the recent appeal in the Supreme Court In family cases, there is no arm’s length dealing and, if a spouse is able to hide assets behind a corporate structure, a just outcome in financial remedy proceedings may be impossible to obtain. Family …

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