8. Adoption

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on adoption as a means to terminate the legal relationship between a child and their birth parents. It considers the human rights aspects of adoption and different types of adoption and discusses adoption proceedings in England and Wales under the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The chapter then explains the role of local authorities and adoption agencies under section 2 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, and placement for adoption, parental responsibility, and parental consent. It also highlights the welfare of children as considered by an adoption agency or a court when making a decision affecting the child. Finally, the chapter examines alternative orders: child arrangements order, parental responsibility, special guardianship order, and no order. This edition now includes reference to the Special Guardianship (Amendment) Regulations 2016.

4. Domestic abuse

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on domestic abuse and its causes, along with a number of relevant civil law and criminal law remedies. It explains non-molestation orders under the Family Law Act 1996 before turning to a discussion of breach of an order as a contempt of court. It also considers occupation orders, which regulate the occupation of property, along with various categories of applicant who can seek them. Finally, the chapter examines protection available to parties who are not associated persons under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

3. Divorce, dissolution, and judicial separation

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on divorce, dissolution, and judicial separation as means of ending marriage or civil partnership. It first considers the grounds for divorce/dissolution and highlights five facts that can be used to prove a marriage has irretrievably broken down: adultery, behaviour, desertion, two years’ separation with consent, and five years’ separation. The chapter then compares no-fault divorce with divorce based on fault and provides an overview of the debates surrounding reform. Finally, it considers alternatives to the court process when dealing with divorce, dissolution, and judicial separation, with a particular focus on mediation.

1. Family relationships, marriage, civil partnership, cohabitation

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in an exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on family relationships, marriage, same sex marriage, civil partnership, forced marriage, and cohabitation, beginning with a discussion of the absence of a widely acceptable definition regarding the concept of ‘family’. It examines how marriage was defined in Hyde v Hyde (1866), and the definition of civil partnership under the Civil Partnership Act 2004. The concept of ‘common law marriage’ and the rights of those cohabiting is considered, along with the importance of formalities to end marriage and civil partnership. It also highlights the rights of parties to a marriage or civil partnership to acquire rights over property during the relationship on the basis of trusts law or proprietary estoppel. Finally, it looks at calls to reform the law in relation to cohabitants, particularly with regard to joint ownership of property.

5. Financial provision on divorce or dissolution

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses financial provision on divorce or dissolution of marriage or civil partnership, including housing and everyday expenses of the parties and any children involved. It considers the courts’ statutory powers to redistribute property in case of divorce, nullity, judicial separation, or the dissolution of a civil partnership. The chapter explains how civil partners in England and Wales are treated under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (CPA) and the courts’ application of the provisions of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA) in reaching a decision in divorce cases. It also discusses the three principles of financial needs, compensation, and sharing used by the courts in making an award; nuptial agreements; the Law Commission Report on Matrimonial Property, Needs and Agreements; and provision for children under the MCA, the CPA, the Child Support Act 1991, and the Children Act 1989.

9. International parent–child abduction

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on child abduction whereby a parent takes a child out of England and Wales. It looks at two forms of parent–child abduction—removal without consent, and retention once consent has expired—and considers methods of preventing child abduction, including port alerts and court orders. The chapter also discusses the role of the International Child Abduction and Contact Unit (ICACU) in the recovery of an abducted child under the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985, as long as the child is in a country that is signatory to the Hague Convention 1980, Hague Convention 1996, or European Convention. It concludes by considering extradition of the guilty parent to England and Wales.

6. Children—private law

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on private law matters concerning children under the Children Act 1989, particularly sections 1 and 8. It begins by looking at who is a parent and explaining the concept of parental responsibility and who has it. The chapter then considers the factors considered by the courts to resolve disputes over aspects of a child’s upbringing, including the welfare principle, the welfare checklist, the ‘no delay’ principle, the ‘no order’ principle, and the presumption of continued parental involvement.

2. Nullity

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter, which focuses on nullity as a way of terminating marriage or civil partnership, first explains the difference between nullity and divorce on one hand, and between a void marriage and a non-marriage on the other. It then considers the grounds on which a marriage may be void and voidable in England and Wales under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, as well the grounds on which a civil partnership may be void and voidable under the Civil Partnership Act 2004. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the future of nullity.

7. Children—public law

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter, which focuses on public law matters concerning children under the Children Act 1989, first explains the powers and duties of local authorities, as well as those of the police, to protect children in need. It then considers emergency protection orders, which may be granted where a child is in need of immediate protection, along with interim orders and child assessment orders. The chapter also examines the ‘threshold criteria’ in section 31(2) of the Children Act 1989, which allows the court to make a care or supervision order, before concluding with an assessment of the Human Rights Act 1998 and its impact on the law in relation to care proceedings.