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...
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...
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......
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...
The Family Court handles virtually all family matters, save for a limited category retained exclusively by the High Court. See Practice Note: Allocation of financial remedy proceedings. The Financial Remedies Court functions as a subsidiary structure within the Family Court, arranged into regional financial remedy courts with local hearing centres and designated local venues. To drive efficiency and embed best practice across the Financial Remedies Court, the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955 are augmented by the Financial Remedies Guide (March 2026) (the FRG). For further tools and materials, see Practice Note: Financial Remedies Court (FRC) toolkit.
Except in a few unusual circumstances, financial remedy cases are commenced, case managed and determined in the Family Court. The FRG (paras 31–48) offers guidance on allocation procedure and the considerations the court applies when choosing the appropriate level of judiciary to hear an application, including what factors will be taken into account. See Practice Note: Allocation of financial remedy proceedings.
Applications for a financial remedy are principally governed by FPR 2010, SI 2010/2955, Pt 9, together with the corresponding FPR 2010, PD 9A...
This Practice Note outlines how Duxbury calculations are constructed and applied in practice to the assessment and calculation of capitalised spousal or civil partner maintenance/periodical payments within financial remedy proceedings, setting out the underlying assumptions, the limitations, and the circumstances in which such calculations are suitable and practically appropriate. It also reviews the courts’ general approach to rates of return. The basis of Duxbury calculations A Duxbury calculation was originally conceived to determine, in substance, the capital sum required to fund a fixed-rate periodical payment for the remainder of the recipient’s life, that is, their actuarial life expectancy as projected. In November 2024, the Duxbury Working Group, which is self-selected, published its final report (following a provisional report in October 2024) addressing earlier criticisms and advancing proposals ‘to banish outdated concepts and generally to modernise the approach’, while confirming that ‘it will be a matter for the courts whether to adopt the recommendations’. The Duxbury calculations are available via At a Glance 2025–2026...
When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...