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The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill became an Act of Parliament on 25 June 2020. It however expected to take some time to implement; the Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland, has suggested that it should come into force in the autumn of 2021. Once in force, couples will be able to obtain a divorce without one party being required to attribute blame to the other. Either or both parties, will be able to apply to the Court for a ‘Divorce Order’; the application must be accompanied by a statement confirming that the...

In order to be divorced you obviously have to be validly married, and bigamy remains a surprisingly common occurrence. In one case, the High Court found that a couple's overseas wedding did not render them husband and wife – because she was already married to someone else. A British solicitor and a Philippines-born nurse went through a wedding ceremony in a hotel in her homeland. After they returned to England, they lived together as man and wife and had two children together. She worked in the NHS and became a...

If someone upon whom you depend financially dies leaving you nothing in his or her will, judges have the power to ensure that you do not go empty-handed. As a High Court case showed, however, that power will only be exercised in your favour if your need for support is both pressing and genuine. The case concerned a delivery driver whose modest lifestyle had been boosted by a £450,000 lottery win some years before his death from a brain tumour. By his will, he left his entire estate – valued...

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a public emergency which is threatening the life of the nation. A High Court judge wrote those words in reaching the momentous conclusion that, whilst the crisis persists, derogation from certain fundamental human rights is not merely justified, but essential. The judge gave his ruling in the case of a profoundly deaf dementia sufferer in his 80s who was living in a care home which, in common with almost all such facilities, has been closed to visitors during the pandemic. His daughter lodged an emergency application...