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Family law weekly highlights (England and Wales): key cases on procedure, children, transparency, cohabitants, financial remedies, enforcement and Court of Protection, plus HMCTS improvements and children’s social care reforms

In this issue: Practice and procedure Relationship breakdown Public children Transparency Cohabitants Financial provision Enforcement Court of Protection International children Updated content Daily and weekly news alerts Weekly highlights archive Practice and procedure Update to Standard Order 10.2 (short-form non-molestation order) Following a correction to Order 10.2 (short-form non-molestation order), Mr Justice Peel has refreshed the Standard Family Orders. The amended order now records the respondent’s address and date of birth to support police database entries. The updated Order 10.2, together with reissued yet unchanged Volumes 1 and 2, can be found here. HMCTS sets out progress and next steps for family courts HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has posted a blog outlining advances across the family courts, including broader digital services, clearer guidance and improved support for vulnerable users. The...

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NEWS
Family law weekly update (England and Wales): overseas divorce recognition, post-placement contact, protective orders, parental responsibility for non-biological fathers, FPRC report, McFarlane retirement, HMCTS financial remedy portal changes

In this issue: Practice and procedure Relationship breakdown Public children Private children Financial provision Daily and weekly news alerts New content Updated content New Q&As Useful information Practice and procedure Family Procedure Rule Committee annual report: April 2024 to March 2025 The Family Procedure Rule Committee has issued its annual report, setting out work on revising the Family Procedure Rules 2010. It details reforms on domestic abuse, experts, case management, and early resolution across April 2024 to March 2025. Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division, retires from the judiciary Sir Andrew McFarlane has stepped down as President of the Family Division, President of the Court of Protection and Head of Family Justice following a notable tenure. Since his 2018 appointment, he drove modernisation of the Family Court, advancing transparency through reporting reforms and a 2025...

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NEWS
Re B-A: Court of Appeal (England and Wales) upholds s.26 order for direct parental contact post-placement; confirms bespoke analysis and binary choice between order and recital

Re B-A (Placement Order and Contact Order) [2026] EWCA Civ 356 What are the practical implications of this case? The Court of Appeal emphasised that a central strand in recent rulings on post‑placement order contact is that decisions must turn on the particular facts of the individual case. It also noted that, in Re S (Placement Order Contact) [2025] EWCA Civ 823, [2026] 1 FLR 48, the President highlighted the need for a tailored, bespoke appraisal of future contact arrangements in every matter, specific to each child......

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NEWS
Family law weekly update: kinship allowance guidance, Supreme Court fee increases, PD 36Z extension, and key judgments on parental alienation, relocation and Hague return; plus technology lecture and content updates

In this issue: Practice and procedure Private children International children Daily and weekly news alerts Updated content Useful information Practice and procedure DfE publishes guidance on delivering kinship allowance pilot The Department for Education (DfE) has released non‑statutory guidance on implementing the kinship allowance within the Kinship Zones pilot programme, starting on 1 April 2026. It sets out the policy framework for participating local authorities, including rules on eligibility for kinship carers, payment structures, interactions with other benefits, and arrangements for funding and assurance. During the pilot, eligible kinship carers with a special guardianship order or a lives with child arrangements order will receive a regular, tax‑free, non‑means‑tested allowance paid at the national minimum fostering allowance rate. The aim is to enhance placement stability and ease financial barriers to enduring kinship care. The guidance also details delivery...

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Overview—financial relief after overseas divorce

Jurisdiction and legislative provisions


Under MFPA 1984, Pt III, spouses divorced abroad who retain a link to England and Wales can apply here for financial relief to address the harm caused when a foreign court makes no, or insufficient, financial provision. Equivalent measures exist for the ending of an overseas civil partnership (or an equivalent status) through Schedule 7 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (CPA 2004). MFPA 1984, Pt III and CPA 2004, Sch 7 permit an application for financial relief where:

  • a marriage or civil partnership has been dissolved or annulled, or the parties have been legally separated, through judicial or other proceedings in another country; and
  • the divorce, dissolution, annulment or legal separation is recognised as valid in England and Wales

An applicant must also satisfy requirements relating to habitual residence and/or domicile. The jurisdictional elements of the EU Maintenance Regulation-Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009-are no longer of relevance, except for proceedings begun before IP completion day (11pm on 31 December)...

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