Blog Archives

Missing mum and boy

6/12/2015

A mother who has vanished with her young son to avoid a custody ruling.
Click below to read what HHJ Wildblood QC
said in court on 8th June 2015
https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/judgment_of_8th_June_2015.pdf

"Ethan has now been missing for 11 days. The solution to any grievance that the mother and her family might feel does not lie in the mother going into hiding. The court made orders following full investigations and the orders that the Judge made were supported by three strong professional bodies – the Local Authority children’s services, the child’s guardian and the eminent psychiatrist, Dr Berelowitz. If the mother wished to oppose the father’s application on 27th May or to substantiate her allegations she should have attended court; there is no doubt that she knew of the court hearing. Further, if the mother had any valid basis for challenging the orders of the District Judge, she could have sought permission to appeal. She did not do so."

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Driving licence changes

6/8/2015

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As of Monday June 8, all driving records will be displayed online and counterpart driving licences need to be destroyed. From today, the paper counterpart to photocard driving licences will not be valid and will no longer be issued by DVLA. Those with paper driving licences, issued before the photocard was introduced in 1998, should keep them as they will remain valid.

The counterpart was originally introduced to display driving licence details that could not be included on the photocard, including any endorsement/penalty points.

From today, penalty points will be recorded electronically and will not be printed on driving licences. Anyone who commits an offence will still have to pay a fine and submit their licence to court.

But I heard on Radi0 4's Today programme this morning that if you're going on holiday and planning to hire a car, you will need to obtain a special code, valid for 72 hours, which you will pass on to the car hire company before the hire car will be released. To get this code, you need your NI no. as well as your licence details. I expect this will catch out quite a few holiday makers this year and until this becomes more widely known.

For more info visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/driving-licence-changes

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Update on new divorce centres

6/8/2015

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The Central Family Court in London remains a point of entry for financial remedy cases and emergency or urgent divorce petitions.

Unless there is an urgent reason to issue at the counter, Divorce petitions should be sent by post to one of the new centres. For my clients, based on their home addresses, that tends to be Bury St Edmunds or Southampton. Uncontested petitions will be considered by a legal adviser at the centre. District Judges (DJs) will handle contested applications, annulments and judicial separation applications. Legal advisers will not handle financial remedy cases.

The centres only act as points of entry. Hearings can take place elsewhere. I have had to reassure a number of clients about this who were concerned they might have to make a trip to Bury St Edmunds. If an application in relation to a financial remedy needs a hearing, it is possible to say where you want the hearing to take place e.g. in Guildford. Financial remedy consent applications are expected to be handled by DJs on site at the divorce centres. This is no different from now in the majority of the cases I handle. It’s what many of us refer to as the DJs ‘box work’ i.e. paper applications by consent.

Where there is a reason to issue an application urgently, all family court venues with DJs on site will continue to accept and issue such applications.

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