Family Law Week has just published a report of a most interesting and difficult case decided by the High Court last year.

TJ v CV & Ors [2007] EWHC 1952 (Fam) involved an application by the biological father for contact and parental responsibility orders in respect of his son, who is now part of his sister’s same sex family. He claimed that he, his sister and her civil partner (to whom he donated sperm) had agreed that he would have regular contact with his son, and a role in major decision-making, whereas his sister and her partner maintained that he was merely to have an 'avuncular role'. Mr Justice Hedley made no order as to parental responsibility, fearing that it would "raise false hopes in [the father] leading to frustration and will fuel all the fears of [his sister and partner] leading to conflict". He did, however, make an order for contact four times a year, to recognise his special status as uncle and biological father, but without giving him full parental status, which "would threaten [the sister and her partner] and would not be consistent with their autonomy as a nuclear family".

Mr Justice Hedley concluded: "I confess that I have found this a difficult and perplexing case. It has required the court to tread unfamiliar ground and to make decisions based on what at this stage must be tentative views about the future needs of [the child]. Nevertheless, I am satisfied that the order of the court best serves these needs as they are presently ascertained and understood. The concept of family is both psychological and biological and in my judgment a court would be unwise not have regard to both aspects."

Personally, I think that Mr Justice Hedley got it about right. The father is not just an uncle, but nor is he a parent, in the sense of a person who will raise the child.

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Inspired by this excellent recent post by Nearly Legal, and in the same spirit of philanthropy, I thought I would do something I don't usually do, and answer some of the questions that have led people to Family Lore over the last couple of days. Naturally, my Disclaimer (see the sidebar) applies to what follows.

does the guilty party pay the costs in a divorce

If the divorce is based upon adultery or unreasonable behaviour, then the court will usually order the 'guilty party' to pay the other party's costs, unless there is already an agreement as to who will pay the costs.

appeal a divorce consent order

It is very unlikely that a court will review a consent order, whether by appeal, or having the order set aside. The most common reasons for such a review are fraud, material non-disclosure, or a new event since the making of the order which invalidates the basis upon which the order was made.

ca legal advice to women marrying rich man

Don't sign a prenuptial agreement!

gays own house who deducts

Who deducts what? If we are talking about the division of property at the end of a relationship, then the rules that apply depend upon whether the parties have entered into a civil partnership. If they have, then the rules are similar to those on divorce: the court can make whatever order it sees fit in all the circumstances. If they have not, then basic property rules apply - i.e. start with what the deeds say.

grandparents rights of contact; and
do grandparents have any legal rights

Yes. See this post.

mother moving within united kingdom and fathers contact; and
a residence order for my child has been granted. can i move elsewhere in the uk

I discussed these issues with a commenter to this post. As I stated there, the general principle is that parents are free to move anywhere within the United Kingdom. If a mother wants to take the children to another part of the UK and the father objects, then he has two options: to apply for a prohibited steps order to stop her taking them there, which will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, or to apply for a residence order, in which case the court will decide whether it is best for the children to remain with him in the same area, or to go with the mother. If the mother does move, the father will still have a right to contact with the children, although obviously the terms of the contact will probably have to be re-negotiated, or varied by the court.

when i divorce how much of my husbands pension will i receive

The answer, as always, is 'it depends', but the starting-point is equal division, so in a long marriage where the wife has no pension and the husband's pension has accrued entirely during the marriage, then the wife can expect to receive half.

can a cohabitee claim maintenance fees free move

Not sure about the 'free move' part of this, but the current position is that cohabitees cannot claim maintenance for themselves.

civil law on breach of a financial settlement retaining an ex spouses personal property

If the settlement has been incorporated into a financial/property order, then you should apply to the court to enforce the order. If no order has yet been made, then make sure it deals with personal property.

I'll finish off with a couple of more abstract questions:

unanswered questions about divorce

Aren't there always?

what is the good recent about take the divorce

What indeed?

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I've just noticed that it's fifty years to the day that Sir John Wolfenden, the Vice-Chancellor of my alma mater, Reading University, published his famous report recommending that homosexual behaviour between consenting adults should no longer be a criminal offence. These words from the report should not be forgotten: "It is not ... the function of the law to intervene in the private life of citizens, or to seek to enforce any particular pattern of behaviour". Despite support from the BMA, the Howard League, the National Association of Probation Officers and even the Archbishop of Canterbury, the government rejected the proposal and it was another ten years before the law permitted sexual relations between adults over the age of twenty-one.

That, of course, was not the end of the story. It was not until 2000 that the age of consent for gay men was brought into line with that for heterosexuals, and not until 2004 that the Civil Partnership Act was passed, allowing same-sex couples to enter into civil partnerships, which are similar to, but still not the same as, marriage.

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Just thought I would lift myself from my sunbed for long enough to correct "The Thunderer".

Under the headline "Mother is first lesbian guilty of bigamy", The Times reported the first case of making a false statement to a registrar, by a woman who was still married when she entered into a civil partnership. The headline is incorrect, of course, as bigamy is entering into a marriage whilst still married to another person, and a civil partnership is not a marriage, much to the chagrin of the gay community.

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