The Conservative MP Richard Bacon has put forward a proposal to amend the family law to allow couples to say there was no fault for the relationship break up.
The current law means that married couples who want to separate have to provide the courts with evidence of adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion or separation without consent.
Arguing that he did not want to make divorce ‘easier’ but instead stating his Bill would allow couples to break up without ‘throwing mud’ at each other, Mr Bacon went on to say: ‘I propose one simple amendment to the law - the option of divorce without blame - where a petitioner who wished to do so, rather than offering the court one of the five facts currently required of adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion etc, could instead satisfy a court a marriage had broken down irretrievably with a sixth fact.’
MPs passed the first reading of Mr Bacon’s ‘No Fault Divorce Bill on Tuesday.
I will keep an eye on this interesting proposal - anything that gives a different angle on ‘blame culture’ cannot be a bad thing to explore.
To read the full article from The Telegraph click here.
Thursday, 15 October 2015
Tuesday, 6 October 2015
Legal right for Grandparents to share parental leave
In the future it could be the case that working grandparents will be able to share parental leave.
The Chancellor has announced the planned changes - which are aiming to be implemented by 2018 - and he is hoping they will increase flexibility and give choice to families.
Evidence suggests:
- Up to 2 million grandparents have either given up work or reduced their hours to help families who cannot afford childcare costs
- Around 7 million grandparents are involved in childcare
- Grandparents may be contributing as much as £8 billion each year to help bridge the childcare gap
- More than half of mothers rely on grandparents for childcare when they first go back after maternity leave
The government will consult on the details in the first half of 2016 and whatever the outcome, I hope the planned changes will only help to support family units so that the best choice of structure can be chosen by those families who work.
To read the full government report click here.
The Chancellor has announced the planned changes - which are aiming to be implemented by 2018 - and he is hoping they will increase flexibility and give choice to families.
Evidence suggests:
- Up to 2 million grandparents have either given up work or reduced their hours to help families who cannot afford childcare costs
- Around 7 million grandparents are involved in childcare
- Grandparents may be contributing as much as £8 billion each year to help bridge the childcare gap
- More than half of mothers rely on grandparents for childcare when they first go back after maternity leave
The government will consult on the details in the first half of 2016 and whatever the outcome, I hope the planned changes will only help to support family units so that the best choice of structure can be chosen by those families who work.
To read the full government report click here.
Wednesday, 30 September 2015
Mediation increase - stats published by the Ministry of Justice
Statistics have been published for the period April - June 2015 highlighting that:
- Starts in the last quarter were up by 33% compared with the same period last year.
- Over the last year, of all mediation outcomes, 64% of them involved successful agreements.
- Of these successful agreements, the children category had the highest proportion of its agreements being successful. This was at 67%.
Mediation is especially helpful where a couple disagrees about the future welfare of children or about finances. The process can help you and your partner maintain your focus so that you are more likely to reach agreement and minimise the pain.
As a trained mediator, I can help you reach agreement about how to make the best arrangements for the future. Have any questions? Please email me.
Further details on these statistics can be found in Family Law Week article here
The full Ministry of Justice report can be found here
- Starts in the last quarter were up by 33% compared with the same period last year.
- Over the last year, of all mediation outcomes, 64% of them involved successful agreements.
- Of these successful agreements, the children category had the highest proportion of its agreements being successful. This was at 67%.
Mediation is especially helpful where a couple disagrees about the future welfare of children or about finances. The process can help you and your partner maintain your focus so that you are more likely to reach agreement and minimise the pain.
As a trained mediator, I can help you reach agreement about how to make the best arrangements for the future. Have any questions? Please email me.
Further details on these statistics can be found in Family Law Week article here
The full Ministry of Justice report can be found here
Friday, 25 September 2015
Domestic abuse patterns - advice given to Police
Officers in England and Wales are going to get specialist advice from the new College of Policing guidance, on how to spot patterns of domestic abuse.
David Tucker - head of the college’s crime and criminal justice faculty, said
‘It is the responsibility of the perpetrator to stop the abuse and the responsibility of the police to bring the perpetrator to justice - the victim is not responsible for either.’
Adding that domestic abuse should be pro-actively investigated and that police should be ‘properly trained’.
It will also advise senior officers ‘about the need for specialist staff to deal with cases of abuse and ensure victims receive the best possible support.’
The full article can be found on BBC News here.
This seems a big step forward in educating the police officers that will be involved in domestic abuse cases. As I’ve mentioned before, I am in favour of anything that helps domestic abuse victims feel supported or safe.
If you are worried about any aspect of domestic abuse or maybe even worried about a friend, contact me or Sally Fitzherbert or ring us on 029 2039 5888 to have a chat.
David Tucker - head of the college’s crime and criminal justice faculty, said
‘It is the responsibility of the perpetrator to stop the abuse and the responsibility of the police to bring the perpetrator to justice - the victim is not responsible for either.’
Adding that domestic abuse should be pro-actively investigated and that police should be ‘properly trained’.
It will also advise senior officers ‘about the need for specialist staff to deal with cases of abuse and ensure victims receive the best possible support.’
The full article can be found on BBC News here.
This seems a big step forward in educating the police officers that will be involved in domestic abuse cases. As I’ve mentioned before, I am in favour of anything that helps domestic abuse victims feel supported or safe.
If you are worried about any aspect of domestic abuse or maybe even worried about a friend, contact me or Sally Fitzherbert or ring us on 029 2039 5888 to have a chat.
Tuesday, 15 September 2015
Adoption register in Wales to be run by the National Adoption Service
Following on from information in my blog post back in August it was announced last week, that after the closure of BAAF - British Association of Adoption and Fostering - that the adoption register in Wales will now be run by the country’s National Adoption Service.
Mark Drakeford - the health and social services minister for Wales commented:
‘As soon as we became aware of BAAF’s plans to close, we negotiated with its administrators to ensure services remained stable for an extra six weeks to support vulnerable children and assist people seeking to foster and adopt.’
It has also been announced that St David’s Children’s society has set up a new body that will offer training, legal advice and an advice line for the public. This will be known as the Association for Fostering and Adoption Cymru and will look to recruit former BAAF staff.
To read the full details please refer to Community Care article here and should you have any questions regarding the legal aspect of adoption then please feel free to contact me.
Mark Drakeford - the health and social services minister for Wales commented:
‘As soon as we became aware of BAAF’s plans to close, we negotiated with its administrators to ensure services remained stable for an extra six weeks to support vulnerable children and assist people seeking to foster and adopt.’
It has also been announced that St David’s Children’s society has set up a new body that will offer training, legal advice and an advice line for the public. This will be known as the Association for Fostering and Adoption Cymru and will look to recruit former BAAF staff.
To read the full details please refer to Community Care article here and should you have any questions regarding the legal aspect of adoption then please feel free to contact me.
Tuesday, 1 September 2015
Number of children waiting to be placed into adoption decreases by 40%
Further to my post earlier in August, I was keen to read up on the Adoption Leadership Board’s latest round of statistics covering the first quarter of 2015. A summary of which is given below:
- 2,810 children were waiting to be placed at 31 March 2015 - a 40% decrease from the same time period in 2014
- In 2013-14, the average number of days between entering care and placement was 594 days. During 2014-15 this was down to 533 days
- The latest quarterly data suggests timeliness is beginning to decline. In quarter 2 2013-14, 50% of approvals made by local authorities were made within 6 months of registration, while in quarter 4 2014- 15 this had decreased to 28% of registrations.
- Registrations to become an adopter have decreased by 23% from 7,450 in 2013-14 to 5,740 in 2014-15. The number of adopter families approved for adoption has increased by 1% from 5,190 in 2013-14 to 5,260 in 2014-15.
To read the full report please click here.
I am a member of the Law Society's Children Panel and am always happy to discuss any matter of child law. Please e-mail me with any questions that you may have.
- 2,810 children were waiting to be placed at 31 March 2015 - a 40% decrease from the same time period in 2014
- In 2013-14, the average number of days between entering care and placement was 594 days. During 2014-15 this was down to 533 days
- The latest quarterly data suggests timeliness is beginning to decline. In quarter 2 2013-14, 50% of approvals made by local authorities were made within 6 months of registration, while in quarter 4 2014- 15 this had decreased to 28% of registrations.
- Registrations to become an adopter have decreased by 23% from 7,450 in 2013-14 to 5,740 in 2014-15. The number of adopter families approved for adoption has increased by 1% from 5,190 in 2013-14 to 5,260 in 2014-15.
To read the full report please click here.
I am a member of the Law Society's Children Panel and am always happy to discuss any matter of child law. Please e-mail me with any questions that you may have.
Tuesday, 25 August 2015
Domestic abuse fund now up and running
From 24th August 2015 local authorities will be able to bid for a share of a £3m fund set up to support the victims of domestic abuse.
The fund is now inviting bids for work in 2015 to 2016, led by local authorities working in partnership with service providers.
The full information can be read on the Family Law news page and it details that ‘successful applicants must demonstrate how they will support innovative and cost-effective proposals to deliver accommodation-based services for victims of abuse, and for services to help them access such support. They should also set out how they will further the development of local strategies on tackling domestic abuse and help create sustainable and long-term approaches to providing support for victims.’
It is hoped that the fund will ‘address any gaps in the provision of specialist accommodation-based support, and to provide support for victims seeking to access these services.’
The fund is now inviting bids for work in 2015 to 2016, led by local authorities working in partnership with service providers.
The full information can be read on the Family Law news page and it details that ‘successful applicants must demonstrate how they will support innovative and cost-effective proposals to deliver accommodation-based services for victims of abuse, and for services to help them access such support. They should also set out how they will further the development of local strategies on tackling domestic abuse and help create sustainable and long-term approaches to providing support for victims.’
It is hoped that the fund will ‘address any gaps in the provision of specialist accommodation-based support, and to provide support for victims seeking to access these services.’
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