Duncan Needham v Susan Rosemary Ellis [2024] EWCC 2915 November 2024

HHJ Tindal. An unusual case, involving two appeals arising from longstanding TLATA claims involving the former family home. Mr Needham’s application to vary the consent order which was made in 2017 was refused. He sought ‘permission to apply’ to set aside that refusal, permission being required because of an LCRO. Permission to apply was refused; Mr Needham appealed. This judgment deals with his application to set aside that refusal.

• Cases

• TLATA Claims
• Appeals
• Civil Restraint Orders

• Neive Augustin

X v Y [2025] EWHC 727 (Fam)11 March 2025

Trowell J. Wife’s unsuccessful appeal against the rejection of her Barrell application to reopen a final order in a needs case following the husband’s father’s death. Trowell J agreed with the trial judge that the husband’s inheritance prospects were uncertain, and the principle of finality ought to be favoured over re-opening the case.

• Cases

• Barrell Applications
• Appeals Out Of Time
• Appeals
• Setting Aside Orders (Including Barder Applications)

• Jasmine Knapman

P v B (Permission to appeal an arbitral award: children) [2025] EWFC 69 (B)10 January 2025

Permission to appeal heard by HHJ Robertson involving a challenge to an arbitral determination in a children matter. Held that the powers of an arbitrator to re-open issues in a case are different to those of a judge, as they operate in different spheres, under different rules and to achieve different outcomes.

• Cases

• arbitration
• Appeals

• Jessica Holloway

AJ v FJ (Appeal Against Registration) [2024] EWFC 3566 December 2024

MacDonald J. This matter concerned a successful appeal against the decision of the Maintenance Enforcement Business Centre to register a Polish interim maintenance order obtained by the respondent from the District Court in Jelenia Gora on 15 December 2022.

• Cases

• Jurisdiction
• Child Maintenance
• Appeals
• 2007 Hague Convention
• Enforcement

• Vivien Croly

V v V [2024] EWFC 380 (B)19 December 2024

HHJ Booth. Appeal from a final order in a modest asset case, in which the court was tasked with balancing the needs of a party suffering from a serious disability and the needs of the primary carer of the children of the family.

• Cases

• Housing Need
• Appeals
• Mesher Orders and Deferred Charges
• Needs

• Albert Gibbon

JL v NN [2024] EWHC 148925 April 2024

Williams J allowed W’s appeal on the basis that the judge failed to explicitly evaluate critical evidence and reach clear conclusions. Williams J confirmed that the civil standard of proof for fraud and dishonesty in the Financial Remedies Court is subject to the same balance of probabilities standard as any other factual issue, even if fraud issues should not be pleaded without an evidential basis.

• Cases

• Dishonesty
• Burden Of Proof
• Housing Need
• Fraud
• Appeals

• Elizabeth Bowden

Mainwaring v Bailey [2024] EWHC 2614 (Fam)16 October 2024

Henke J ordered the husband to pay the wife’s costs assessed on a standard basis following his ‘hopeless appeal’. In response to the husband’s plea that he should be treated as a litigant-in-person and he did not understand the Family Procedure Rules, Henke J was emphatic that litigants in person are expected to comply with the procedural rules as much as represented parties.

• Cases

• Costs
• Appeals

• Jasmine Knapman

GH v GH [2024] EWHC 2547 (Fam)

Peel J. In a narrow but important judgment, Peel J reminds all of the importance of an FDR, allowing an appeal against a decision of the first instance judge to proceed directly to a final hearing.

• Cases

• FDRs
• Financial Remedies Court (FRC)
• Appeals
• Efficient Conduct

• Liam Kelly

!06/10/2024 21:22

Mainwaring v Bailey [2024] EWHC 2296 (Fam)28 August 2024

Henke J. The husband unsuccessfully appealed against an order leaving him with c.35% of the assets in a ‘small money’ case. Ms Justice Henke emphasised the breadth of the trial judge’s discretion and affirmed that fairness does not always mean equality.

• Cases

• Sharing Principle
• Housing Need
• Loans
• Appeals
• Debts
• Needs

• Jasmine Knapman

Re RA (Appeal: Validity of a Marriage: Finding of Fact) [2024] EWHC 1144 (Fam)15 May 2024

Henke J. Successful appeal of a fact-finding, despite such an appeal being ‘notoriously difficult’.

• Cases

• Validity of marriage
• Appeals
• Setting Aside Orders (Including Barder Applications)

• Mahnoor Javed