Pressure from Campaigners for Presumption in Law of Shared Parental Rights

Campaign group, FNF Both Parents Matter Cymru, have prompted a call for a change in the law which presumes shared parental rights in divorce. The proposal would allow for a presumption that where parents separate, the default position would be that children would spend equal time with each of their parents. The campaign follows a YouGov survey which highlights the majority of the public support such a presumption.

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Child Protection in Family Courts to be Examined by Experts

Government Ministers have announced that an expert panel will review how family courts protect children and parents in cases involving severe offences, including domestic abuse. The panel will investigate, make recommendations and report back on their findings in three months.

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New divorce laws to end 'blame game' for couples

It has been announced that changes to divorce laws in England and Wales will be introduced to enable couples to separate quicker, and with less acrimony.

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Calls for divorce process to be reformed because it is too complicated

The Ministry of Justice is due to explain how it intends to reform the legal requirements relating to divorce following the publication of the Nuffield Foundation’s Reforming the Ground for Divorce: Experiences from Other Jurisdictions report.

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Funding for children's services slashed by a third since 2010

Since 2010, funding available for children’s services has fallen from £813 to £553 per child in England, the UK's leading children's charities have announced this month.

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Almost half of Brits wrongly believe common law marriage exists in the UK

Cohabitating couples are now the fastest-growing family group in England and Wales, and yet recent research reveals almost half of British people mistakenly think that unmarried couples who live together have a ‘common law marriage’.

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Divorce rate at its lowest in 40 years

The divorce rate among opposite-sex couples in England and Wales is at its lowest since 1973, according to new research from the ONS. Only 8.4 per 1,000 married couples got a divorce in 2017, a decrease of 5.6% compared with 2016. The ONS publication, which was released yesterday, looks at a number of factors which can influence the divorce rate, such as: age of divorce duration of marriage opposite-sex v same-sex divorce rate reason for divorce Average age of divorce in England & Wales In 2017, the highest divorce rate for opposite-sex couples was among men between the…

Supreme Court rules unhappy marriage is not grounds for divorce

Supreme court judges ‘reluctantly’ upheld a previous family court ruling that Tini Owens, 69, was unable to divorce husband of 40 years, Hugh, who refuses to split. This particular case has highlighted the need to reform family law in the UK and introduce a 'no-fault' divorce.

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Restricting Civil Partnerships to Same-Sex Couples Breaches Human Rights

The Supreme Court has recently ruled that the UK Government’s ban on civil partnerships for different-sex couples in England and Wales is discriminatory and in breach of human rights. 

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Analysis Reveals Risk Factors for Partner Abuse

A recent publication from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed which groups of women are most at risk of experiencing partner abuse. 

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