Recently in Family Law Category

The ex-wife of a Nigerian oil tycoon has won a landmark court case that could change the face of divorce settlements, after the Supreme Court ruled that assets held by companies could form the basis of a divorce settlement, reports Reuters.

Yasmin Prest had been married to Nigerian oil tycoon Michael Prest for 15 years when the couple filed for divorce in March 2008.

After their separation, Mr Prest, who lives abroad in tax haven Monaco, refused to pay the multi-million pound settlement awarded to his wife as part of the divorce case.

The High Court has recognised a Brazilian adoption in a case that could allow more couples to have adoptions recognised abroad made legal in the UK, reports familylawweek.co.uk

The case concerned a Brazilian-born woman, known in the case only as Z. Z moved to the UK in 1995 and married a UK citizen in 2001. In 2002 she successfully applied for permanent resident status.

Following her marriage, and due to an inability for her and her husband to conceive children, they decided to adopt. To retain links with Mrs Z's home nation, they chose to adopt Brazilian children.

Amnesty International has threatened legal action if Northern Ireland becomes the only part of the UK not to ratify legal marriage for same-sex couples, reports the BBC.

A debate on whether to legalise same-sex marriage took place at the Northern Ireland Assembly yesterday, amid protests from both pro- and anti-gay marriage groups in the province.

The motion to legalise same-sex marriage was proposed by Sinn Fein. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has indicated it may use a Petition of Concern to veto any proposed legislation. A similar motion was proposed and vetoed last October.

Irish Health Minister James Reilly has spoken out to deny that new abortion laws will include plans for suicidal women to find six separate medical opinions before they are able to have a legal abortion, reports the BBC.

At present Irish law forbids abortion in almost all circumstances, apart from when there is a risk to the life of the mother, excluding situations where the mother's health is at risk.

A Supreme Court ruling in the case of 'X' in Ireland in 1992 decided that only a risk to the life of a mother was sufficient to warrant an abortion.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has signaled that he would support any move to change the law to allow opposite-sex couples the right to have a civil partnership instead of a marriage, reports The Daily Telegraph.

The new Archbishop, Justin Welby, made the comment in a meeting with gay-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell at his Lambeth Palace home, in what is considered the first ever meeting between the head of a major world religion and a prominent gay rights campaigner.

The Archbishop accepts that the issue of gay marriage is one that the Church must engage with, and said afterwards that he wanted an open 'dialogue' with gay and lesbian groups.

The Church of England has ruled out offering public blessings to same-sex couples, despite changes to the law to legalise gay marriage, reports the BBC.

The Church secured a 'quadruple lock' from legislators after coming out against sanctioning same-sex marriage. The law will not recognise a marriage conducted by a local priest, and the Equality Act has been amended so that discrimination claims are not possible.

The Government voted to legalise same-sex marriage in a historic vote earlier in 2013.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has informed the Government that it has no safety concerns over new forms of IVF that could see genetic material from three people used in some pregnancies, reports the BBC.

The HFEA undertook a public consultation into the issue of three-parent babies that could help a small number of families whose offspring are at risk from rare diseases.

The three-parent technique involves using a donor egg and sperm, but uses genetic material from a third parent to replace defective mitochondria in the mother's eggs. Mitochondria are the part of every cell that generates energy and are only ever passed down the maternal line.

The Legal Ombudsman has cited the rising cost of divorce and poor quality representation as adding considerably to the misery of the situation for separating couples, reports the BBC.

The Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales was set up in 2010 with formal powers to resolve disputes between lawyers and their clients when all other avenues of settlement have been exhausted.

The Legal Ombudsman's report found that almost a fifth of complaints they received last year related to family law matters and the vast majority of these concerned divorce proceedings. The report aimed to assess the reasons for complaints and to try to better understand the high levels of dissatisfaction with the services provided by divorce lawyers.

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety of Northern Ireland has announced that it will release new guidance on abortion within the next week, reports the BBC.

The move to publish new guidance came after the controversial death of Savita Halappanavar in Galway, Ireland, last October.

Ms Halappanavar, a 31-year-old dentist, presented to hospital in the 17^th week of her pregnancy believing she was miscarrying.

Pre-nups might be all the rage among the rich and famous across the pond in the US, but in the UK where thousands of couples are choosing to live together outside of wedlock it is the 'no-nup' that is catching the headlines, reports The Daily Telegraph.

Lawyers specialising in housing and family law are reporting a surge in the number of couples seeking cohabitation agreements in advance of moving in together to map out the legal framework of t heir relationship and to determine what will happen to assets if the relationship should dissolve.

No-nuptials have become particularly popular for parents who have invested money helping their child get onto the property ladder.

The laws that surround the division of property and responsibility for children for unmarried, cohabiting couples, has been thrown into the spotlight yet again with a senior Court of Appeal judge labeling the law 'unfair'.

The civil case of Brian Collins and Pamela Curran was heard at the Central London County Court last year.

The couple were in relationship for 30 years and ran a successful kennels in Ashford, Kent. Both their family home and the business were held in Mr Collins' name.

A landmark ruling by a UK court to refer a divorce case to a religious court could pave the way for Sharia law, and other religious legal structures, to be recognised in UK law.

The prospect of greater involvement for religious courts in the UK legal system was created when a Jewish couple had their divorce case referred to Beth Din, the Jewish religious court.

The case was reported by The Times.

A cross-party commission of MPs is to investigate whether the current UK abortion laws permit too many disabled children to be terminated.

The investigation comes amid concern that advances in medical technology and changed attitudes to disability should mean that more disabled children are permitted a life and role in society.

At present the law imposes a legal limit of 24 weeks on abortions, but permits later terminations to save the mother's life or grave injury to her health, or if there is a significant risk that the child will be seriously handicapped by a physical or mental disability.

The Government has finally published new legislation that will legalise gay marriage in England and Wales for the first time.

At present, same-sex couples can form a legal bond akin to marriage in the form of a civil ceremony, but the new law will afford same-sex couples equality in marriage.

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill will allow same-sex couples to marry in both civil and religious ceremonies, but permits religious institutions to refuse to conduct the ceremonies and exempts them from challenge under anti-discrimination legislation.

The music star Elton John and his partner David Furnish this month welcomed the latest addition to their family, baby boy Elijah, after paying a Californian surrogacy agency for the services of a surrogate mother.

Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish-John was born in the US on 11 January this year, after the couple reportedly paid around £20,000 for the service provided by the Centre for Surrogate Parenting, which provides surrogacy services especially for gay couples.

At present surrogacy is legal in the UK, but the law prohibits any form of commercial arrangement as part of the surrogacy agreement. The laws on surrogacy are contained in the Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985, and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008.