Generally a parent cannot take the child out of the UK unless the other parent agrees or there is a Court Order. Indeed you might be guilty of a criminal offence under the Child Abduction Act 1984, even if you have just gone on holiday, or perhaps sheltering the child from the violence of the other parent There is a Hague Convention on International Child Abduction which covers most but not all countries. You can check out the latest list on their website. You have to check whether the father has parental responsibility. The Hague Convention’s procedure is extremely rapid…
This is the first of three court appointments, although one hopes to avoid the second and third to keep costs down. It is pretty boring. Typically it lasts 30 minutes, and the judge gives directions, which are usually agreed in advance. “A Direction” means a court timetable, for things like valuing the matrimonial home unless it can be agreed, what each party’s mortgage capacity is and whether the parties need to be compelled to provide information in questionnaires previously served or produced at the hearing. Sometimes the judge will go through the questionnaire line by line striking out unreasonable questions.…
This is the second of three court hearings when it is hoped to “knock heads together” to settle. It is very valuable. It is like having a free top barrister’s opinion because you hear from the judge who says “I am not your judge, but if I was your judge this is the Order I would make”. One plays very close attention to what the FDR judge says. It is often useful to compare what he says with what advice you have received to date and that is often a good test of the quality and experience of the legal…
In the case of Lloyds Bank v Foster-Burnell, the Judge ruled that the bank’s terms and conditions were unfair and “a significant imbalance to the detriment” of the customer. Terms and conditions have to be fair, and also not just changed by the bank, without consent. If you think your bank has overcharged you or overdraft fees are unfair, take expert advice from a specialist litigation solicitor or a lawyer. We would be interested in your comments, please leave them by clicking on the title to this blog above.
Am just need a help of what can you do about houssing benefit fraus comit by my self as having £179000 into my account which belongs to my brother. but thec council deny that and now they want to prosecute me to cown court. is there any way by stopping them to go to court. many thanks This is a very typical enquiry which lawyers get. There was certainly a way of stopping this. Even after the decision is made to prosecute the prosecution has the power to instead accept an administrative civil penalty, but the important thing is to…
The European Payment Order (EPO) is dealt with in an excellent article by Paul Stanley QC in the Solicitors’ Journal 23 September (www.solicitorsjournal.com) and is well worth a read. EPO offers a simple and inexpensive way of directly enforcing a judgment obtained in a different European jurisdiction. Even generally often one can serve court documents by ordinary post, but choosing a method where a receipt is required, can have significant advantages down the line and time again has been shown to be worth extra trouble. Personal address is no longer effective if the defendant has actually moved,…
The Mail Online 23 September article by Damien Gayle is compulsory reading for anybody going through a divorce (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2765989/Divorcing-wives-away-new-romances-battling-husbands-cash-says-family-court-judge.html) The most senior family judge Mr Justice Mostyn said in a ruling in a divorce case that the start of any relationship can be a “Significant fly in the ointment” to judges in the Family Court deciding how much money ex-wives should be awarded. Experienced divorce lawyers have greeted the ruling with amazement. It may make it more difficult for a judge to assess an ex-wife’s settlement, but that is what the judge is for. To ask that parties…
The Mail Online 23 September article by Damien Gayle is compulsory reading for anybody going through a divorce (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2765989/Divorcing-wives-away-new-romances-battling-husbands-cash-says-family-court-judge.html) The most senior family judge Mr Justice Mostyn said in a ruling in a divorce case that the start of any relationship can be a “Significant fly in the ointment” to judges in the Family Court deciding how much money ex-wives should be awarded. Experienced divorce lawyers have greeted the ruling with amazement. It may make it more difficult for a judge to assess an ex-wife’s settlement, but that is what the judge is for. To ask that parties…
You may have read both in the Times and also the Law Society Gazette (8 September 2014 www.lawgazette.co.uk) of a Judge laying into an advocate solicitor who wore ribbons and medals on his gown during a trial. The Judge said “If ever you appear before this Court dressed as you are I shall exercise my right to decline to hear you”. Keep an eye on this story. This solicitor sounds like quite a character, and I hope that he will turn up before the same Judge in the same Court dressed in exactly the same way. I then…
Read this article in the Financial times weekend section 5 September 2014 www.ft.com Adam Palin writes about the letters from HMRC to the public in August, about the high income Child Benefit charge. The whole situation is confusing and something of a shambles. This is nothing new. HMRC often fire out very distressing letters about overpayments, and threatening all sorts of action and the taxpayer cannot respond. Literally it is often impossible to get a reply to a letter for months or at all, or a phone call and there is a plethora of confusion as to where…
