Effective child maintenance, Cafcass figures and more
A week in family law The summer vacation is now in full swing, but the family law news continues… There has been a media outcry over the legal aid bill for Ellie Butler’s parents, Ben Butler and Jennie...
View ArticleIs the new child maintenance system putting domestic violence survivors at risk?
I suspect that it is a common misconception that domestic abuse ends when a relationship ends. Well, it probably does in many cases, but in some cases it will continue for years after the end of the...
View ArticleSeparated Families Programme is helpful, but no replacement for legal aid
It may be recalled that, as a sticking plaster to cover up the huge wound caused by the abolition of legal aid for most private law family matters, the government made a small amount of money (compared...
View ArticleInternational cases, Family Courts under pressure and more
A week in family law This may have been the last week of the legal summer vacation, but it was not short of family law news stories: Mr Justice Holman has directed a solicitor to meet her client in...
View ArticleGovernment separation website figures released
Government family advice website Sorting Out Separation attracted just under 360,000 visitors in three years, the Department for Work and Pensions has announced. Launched at the end of 2012, Sorting...
View ArticleBankruptcy, mediation and more
A week in family law My selection from this week’s mixed bag of family law-related stories: An inquiry into fostering in England has been launched by the House of Commons Education Select Committee....
View ArticleMillions owed to single parents in child maintenance
Single parents in the UK are owed millions of pounds in child maintenance, a new study suggests. Campaign charity Gingerbread claims that as much as £6 million is owed to such parents in West...
View ArticleBenefit cut to affect thousands of children
Thousands of children will be affected by a new benefit cap, a new report has warned. The government has reduced the maximum amount of benefits a single household can claim. The limit was previously...
View ArticleStaffing for the Child Poverty Unit slashed by half
The government has admitted cutting staffing levels for the Child Poverty Unit by more than half. The Unit works to address welfare issues amongst children from poorer families and is jointly sponsored...
View ArticleGovernment axes Child Poverty Unit
The government has abolished the Child Poverty Unit, a cross-departmental organisation established by Labour to tackle social deprivation. The work undertaken by the Unit has now been subsumed into...
View ArticleDWP boasts of 15,000 voluntary maintenance arrangements
More than 30,000 parents have now set up voluntary child maintenance arrangements, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced. So-called ‘family-based arrangements’ are voluntary...
View ArticleDWP figures, pensions and more
A week in family law A husband who complained that the court failed to have sufficient regard to his ex-wife’s delay in applying for a financial remedies order has had his appeal against the order...
View Article£3 billion in child support debt ‘lost’
As much as £3 billion in child maintenace debt owed by parents under the Child Support Agency (CSA) may never be recovered, the government believes. In a new report, the National Audit Office (NAO)...
View ArticleUnemployed families to receive relationship support
The government has promised to spend millions on relationship support services for unemployed families. Ministers have claimed that this focus is because joblessness creates additional stress and...
View ArticleNeeds, money, maintenance and more
A Week In Family Law A multi-millionaire husband who was ordered to pay his wife the sum of £4.25 million after just 23 months of marriage has failed to have the award overturned on appeal. The...
View ArticleAn election, some statistics and more
A week in family law So, we have a hung parliament. Quite what this will mean for family law and the various promises made by the parties is not at all clear, but I suspect that all talk of family law...
View ArticleWitnessing child abuse exempts you from CMS fee
Single parents who apply to the Child Maintenance Service for financial assistance will no longer have to pay the £20 fee if they can demonstrate that they witnessed the abuse of their children. The...
View ArticleGovernment announces child maintenance ‘clampdown’
The government has announced a new measure to prevent parents avoiding child maintenance payments. At the moment, child maintenance payments can only be claimed from a bank or building society account...
View ArticleThe problem of enforcing child maintenance against joint accounts
Enforcement of orders requiring one party to pay money to another is often not easy, and not cheap. In all cases therefore careful consideration must be given to the prospects of success before...
View ArticleChild maintenance evaders targeted by new bill
A private member’s bill on child maintenance evasion has received its first reading in the House of Commons. Heidi Allen is the Tory MP for South Cambridgeshire. She introduced the Child Maintenance...
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