Family Law

Family law "remains the poor relation" in the Department of Justice's latest annual plan, a prominent Dublin solicitor has said, with little indication of what resources have been committed to reform. Justice Plan 2022, which was launched by justice minister Helen McEntee yesterday, sets out 159 act

The Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal brought by a father seeking the return of his three children to England after they had moved to the Ireland during the pandemic. The court determined that the children had obtained habitual residence in the state following their move in June 2020. Deliverin

Northern Ireland's High Court has found that it still had jurisdiction to hear an application for a care order in respect of an eight-month-old child who was sent to live with his maternal grandfather south of the border. The child was sent away by his mother after she became aware that a social car

Francis Hanna & Co’s family law partner Claire Edgar presented a talk at the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland event last week entitled “Refusing Contact and Parental Alienation”. The online webinar was hosted by SBNI’s Domestic Violence and Abuse Committee and atte

A specialised family court system must be established as soon as possible, along with a range of reforms to proceedings in which children are taken into State care, the Child Care Law Reporting Project (CCLRP) has recommended. The CCLRP will today publish new analysis based on 403 cases heard at Dis

Family lawyer Ken Breen has joined human rights firm KOD Lyons in Dublin. Mr Breen brings over 25 years of experience to the firm, having qualified as a solicitor in 1995 after graduating from the University of Limerick.

Nuala Jackson SC will stand down as chairperson of the Family Lawyers Association of Ireland (FLA) later this month at the end of her two-year term. Having led the association through the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit and significant changes to the family courts, family lawyers told Irish Legal News she

More work needs to be done to encourage and support victims of domestic violence to free themselves from abusive behaviour, one of Northern Ireland's top family lawyers has said. Claire Edgar, partner at Francis Hanna & Co Solicitors, yesterday addressed a conference on domestic abuse hosted by

A couple spent so much on lawyers in a bitter divorce battle that they destroyed their lifestyle in what a judge has called “nihilistic litigation”. Mr Justice Peel in the Family Division of the High Court said the “visible assets” of Captain Paul Crowther, 55, and his wife C

Family lawyers in Northern Ireland stand to lose out from the proposed introduction of standard fees for certain cases, on top of an existing 25-year freeze in legal aid fees, the Law Society of Northern Ireland has said. The Department of Justice recently consulted on the introduction of standard l

Funding has been secured for the completion of the family law complex at Hammond Lane, a new forensic science lab and the redevelopment of Limerick Prison. The government has committed under the newly-published National Development Plan 2021-2030 to investing over €270 million every year for th

Family lawyers have been urged to complete surveys related to legal aid fees before they close later this month. Solicitors who worked on proceedings in relation to Article 8 or Article 50 applications under the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 in the Family Proceedings Court (FPC) between Apr

The Courts Service has issued a warning about fraudulent phone calls appearing to come from a number associated with the Dublin Circuit Court family law office. Members of the public have been urged not to engage with suspicious calls appearing to come from the number 01-8886806, a legitimate court

Northern Ireland's former justice minister Claire Sugden has criticised the pace of reforms to the civil and family justice systems, with few of the recommendations of a judge-led review to be implemented by the end of the Assembly mandate. Ms Sugden served as justice minister after the 2016 electio

Comyn Kelleher Tobin partner Sinead Fitzgerald and intern Mary Maunsell examine a recent High Court judgment on spousal maintenance and "proper provision". A High Court decision in which the wife of a dairy farmer was awarded €800 per month for a four-year period in spousal maintenance was rece