Law, nonsense, and the nonsense of law
In the High Court, Poole J dealt with an application for a declaration of parentage, which the alleged father disputed. YZ, Re (Declaration of Parentage: BATUK: DNA Evidence) [2026] EWHC 1601 (Fam) (26 June 2026)https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Fam/2026/1601.html The circumstances are unusual – there’s an agency who has been doing DNA tests of children in Kenya where the […]
Probably not a combination of words that has appeared before… This was an appeal from a Circuit Judge making Supervision Orders in relation to three children, aged 14, 5 and 3 1/2 years old. Quite unusual for a Supervision Order to be appealed. F, G & H, Re (Return Home Under Supervision Order) [2026] EWCA […]
The Court of Appeal looked at an adoption case in which the adopters had not been open and transparent about the true status of their relationship and situation. M (A Child: Adoption: Duty of Disclosure) [2026] EWCA Civ 568 (11 May 2026) https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2026/568.html The child was placed with them in May 2025 and an adoption […]
This is a very strange case and a follow-up to the classic post Joe and the Juice… | suesspiciousminds N, Re (Paternity: Unregulated Sperm Donor) [2026] EWHC 878 (Fam) (21 April 2026) https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Fam/2026/878.html Mr Robert Albon, who is an unlicensed sperm donor and who has been involved in family law proceedings as referenced in the […]
One of the remarkable things about family law is that no matter how long you’ve been doing the job (in my case, this is year 31) there are always new and surprising ways that cause cases to come before the family Court. This Court of Appeal decision is novel on the facts and also contains […]
I’m not describing myself, no matter how much the Mazur case might be making me feel that way at the moment… This is a Court of Appeal decision in relation to an expert instructed in care proceedings who was an educational psychologist rather than a clinical psychologist as the order had said. The expert was […]
This is an appeal in private law proceedings following a finding of fact hearing. The mother in the case disagreed with the District Judge’s decision not to make findings of domestic abuse against the father. She lodged an appeal which was considered by a Circuit Judge and refused. D (A Child) (Recusal) [2025] EWCA Civ […]
This is an interesting Court of Appeal authority about where the line is between a Judge giving an indication of their preliminary thinking and a Judge pre-determining the outcome of the case before hearing all of the evidence. C (Children: Premature Determination) [2025] EWCA Civ 1481 (19 November 2025)https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2025/1481.html In this case, the Local Authority […]
The Court of Appeal have just given judgment in a case where the Court had made earlier orders saying that if the parents did not respond to threshold criteria by x date, threshold would be deemed to be met. The parents did not attend the IRH and the Judge at first instance made Care Orders […]
I’m going to begin this story by saying that I’m talking here about a case in America, in the 1920s to 1950s. Obviously adoption is different over there, and a hundred years is a long time ago. But it is a shocking story, and despite thirty years in the profession it isn’t something I’d ever […]