Solicitors have expressed disbelief at the government’s decision to sit on research about unrepresented defendants in Crown courts. Labour peer Lord Beecham (Jeremy Beecham) asked the Ministry of Justice when it intends to publish a report on issues faced by courts and practitioners as a result of cases in which defendants are unrepresented. However, a government spokesperson in the Lords, Baroness Buscombe (Peta Jane Buscombe), said the research was ’designed and delivered as an internal report to give the government a better understanding of the practical issues associated with unrepresented defendants’. The government has ‘no plans’ to publish the report, […]

Nigel Shepherd said it is time to ‘end the blame game’ and said the government must not let Brexit get in the way of it acting quickly to ensure there are no more cases like Owens. Mr Shepherd said: ‘In the face of this overwhelming support for a change in law to allow for no fault divorce, it does beg the question, what is the government waiting for? There are more than 110,000 divorces each year – every day the government delays, more than 300 couples get a divorce. That’s 600 people, every day, running the gauntlet of a system that […]

A week in family law Following swiftly on from the Court of Appeal’s judgment in the Owens case, interim findings from research exploring how the current divorce law works in practice have been published. Key findings of the research include that the majority of divorces are based on ‘fault’, i.e. blaming one spouse for the marriage breakdown, that divorce petitions are not necessarily accurate records of who or what caused the breakdown of the marriage, and that fault can create or exacerbate conflict, which can affect negotiations about children or finances where the law expects parties to work together. The […]

Robin Thicke and Paula Patton are ‘close’ to reaching a formal custodial agreement over their young son, more than two years after finalising their divorce. TMZ claim Patton, 41, has granted her ex-husband more time with six-year old Julian, the former couple’s only child, in a bid to ease the ’emotional strain’ their protracted legal battle has had on him. Los Angeles based singer Thicke, 40, is understood to have enjoyed lengthier bonding sessions with their son while actress Paula films new ABC series Somewhere Between on location in Vancouver, Canada. Scroll down for video  Almost there: Robin Thicke and Paula […]

Rocker Phil Collins is expected to be called to testify in an upcoming trial in Miami where his ex-wife, with whom he patched things up and currently lives, will be trying to save her fortune from her latest soon-to-be ex-husband. The five-day trial scheduled to start April 24 is a part of ex-wife Orianne Mejjati’s current divorce from Miami developer Charles Fouad Mejjati. The case has become one of the hardest fought battles in any South Florida court, one where half a dozen lawyers file an average of about two motions and other entries per day. The trial is designed […]

The key findings of this investigation are: It is taking the Department longer than expected to close 1993 and 2003 scheme cases. By September 2016 the Department had closed 33% of active cases – those with continuing payments, against an expectation of 50%. The number of cases where the Department needs to finalise arrears before closure had grown to 163,000 by September 2016. Fewer parents than the Department originally expected are applying to the new scheme when their 1993 and 2003 scheme cases are closed. The Department estimated that 63% of parents who had their active case closed would apply to the […]

California Private Investigator Heavy social media users enlarge their circle of friends, seek out old flames… Our investigations show that Twitter and Facebook reveal heavy social media users are more likely to cheat on their spouse… We have handled hundreds of cheating spouse cases, and have handled clandestine Internet investigations on a daily basis for over twenty years.” — John A. DeMarr HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, March 28, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ — John A. DeMarr, P.I., a California private investigator, has appeared on the cable television show AMERICA TRENDS with Dr. Gina Loudon, reporting on new research showing married couples […]

Lancaster city police Sgt. Raymond Corll grew nervous of civil litigation after he was informed the district attorney’s office would withdraw charges in a March 2014 arrest he made, according to testimony Tuesday in his perjury trial. It was the second day of the trial to determine whether Corll, 55, lied under oath in the prosecution of city resident Steve Widdowson for public drunkenness. Assistant district attorney Jennifer Ponessa testified Tuesday that by the time she got the case, Widdowson had already been found guilty of the summary offense after Corll testified that Widdowson and friend Tami Jones were staggering […]

She’s one of the outspoken, straight-talking personalities of the Real Housewives of Sydney. And in her latest blog post on Tuesday, Lisa Oldfield opened up about family life with husband of 17 years, former One Nation politician David Oldfield, 58. Recalling the past month, the 41-year-old admitted she was ‘teetering on the precipice of divorce’ before recalling a recent incident in which she rescued her four-year-old son Bertie from a shark. Scroll down for video  ‘Teetering on the precipice of divorce’: Real Housewives of Sydney’s Lisa Oldfield, 41, revealed the status of her 17-year marriage with David Oldfield, 58, before recalling […]

Hilary Duff is grateful she gets to enjoy some time away from her son Luca when he spends time with his dad Mike Comrie. Divorced Hilary Duff moans it can “suck” trying to navigate the singles scene. The Younger actress split from ex-husband Mike Comrie in 2014, divorcing two years later. She went on to date trainer Jason Walsh but the romance fizzled out in November (16), and she’s since been linked to musician Matthew Koma. However when asked about dating now she’s not a married woman, Hilary admitted it’s not all plain sailing. “I never think being single sucks […]