Family Law

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

A joint action plan aimed at helping to resolve parental conflict over children outside of an adversarial court environment has been published by Northern Ireland's justice and health ministers. The Private Family Law Early Resolution Action Plan aims to change the way parental disputes are approach

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal against a spousal maintenance order made in the High Court, which provided only €800 per month to the former wife of a farmer and expired after four years. The court considered section 16 of the Family Law Act 1995 and held that the maintenance order fa

A young child has been returned to his parents in England despite the objections of his aunt and uncle. The child had previously been transferred to their care in Ireland for a temporary period to allow his mother to overcome alcohol addiction. However, the aunt and uncle decided that it was in the

Comyn Kelleher Tobin (CKT) has sponsored a new scholarship supporting one postgraduate student on the LLM Children's Rights and Family Law at UCC School of Law. To apply for the Comyn Kelleher Tobin Scholarship, students must secure a minimum grade of 2.1 in an approved primary degree or equivalent,

Members of the public have been invited to share their experiences with the family justice system in a new public consultation. The consultation, running until 11 June 2021, will inform the oversight group which has been tasked with driving the modernisation of family justice in Ireland, including t

Family lawyers have welcomed moves towards clearing the backlog of judicial separation and divorce cases in Dublin. Dublin County Registrar Rita Considine will fix hearing dates for cases today, tomorrow and Friday.

Family lawyer Claire Edgar has welcomed an English court ruling emphasising the importance of domestic abuse training for the judiciary. The Court of Appeal in London last month handed down judgment in four appeals dealing with how allegations of domestic abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour

Ireland has been left with "third world infrastructure" in the family courts and urgent investment is needed to prevent children and vulnerable people from paying the price, the Law Society of Ireland has said. Helen Coughlan, chair of the Law Society's family and child law committee, said the gener

An increasing number of cases involving allegations of parental alienation are coming before the Northern Ireland courts, a family lawyer has warned. Claire Edgar, family law partner at Francis Hanna & Co Solicitors, shared her experience as a practitioner at an online event organised by the Sou