Preface xiii List of abbreviations xv Table of cases xvii Table of statutes xix Table of statutory instruments xxi 1 Introduction to family law 1 What is family law? 1 Rights and obligations 3 Evolving definitions of the family 4 Excluded relationships 5 Challenges to family law 6 The international family 8 Human rights 9 International conventions 9 Challenges to the operation of family justice 10 Judging judges and justice 10 Accountability 12 Organisation of the text 12 References 13 2 State intervention in personal relationships 14 Form v Function 15 Definitions and formation of relationships 19 Self-test questions 45 References 45 Further reading 46 3 Nullity and its consequences 48 Nullity: An important concept 48 Void or voidable relationships 49 Self-test questions 72 References 73 Further reading 74 4 Acquisition and protection of rights in the family home 75 The family home: An overview 75 Self-test questions 106 References 107 Further reading 108 5 Protecting adults from domestic abuse - the civil remedies 109 Contemporary definitions and very public cases 110 History: challenging the common law 115 Domestic abuse incidence and the criminal law 119 Civil remedies for domestic violence and abuse 123 Family Law Act 1996, Part IV s 33-41, 43-49: occupation rights 124 Family Law Act 1996, Part IV: s 42-42A, 43-49: non-molestation orders 131 Other forms of abuse and legal protections 136 More protection needed: closing remarks 141 Self-test questions 145 References 146 Further reading 150 6 Ending relationships 152 The new procedure 161 Civil partnerships 168 Self-test questions 170 References 170 Further reading 171 7 Financial consequences of relationships 172 Part I ownership of personal property and rights to maintenance during a relationship 173 Part II financial consequences of ending the relationship 178 Self-test questions 223 References 224 Further reading 225 8 The elderly, their rights in family life and death and its consequences 227 Social care of the elderly 231 On whom should the burden of care fall? 231 Abuse of the elderly 232 Self-test questions 252 References 252 Further reading 254 9 Family life - parents and carers: From parental rights to responsibilities 255 Parenting histories - the exclusive father 257 Demise of paternal authority and rise of parental responsibility 259 Today - who is a parent in fact? 263 Genetic - biological parents and the natural parent presumption 265 Gestational - parentage 268 Social and psychological parentage - the importance of attachment 277 Legal parents and parental responsibility 281 Parental responsibility: who is entitled? 285 Court orders parental responsibility 286 Other parents - stepmothers and stepfathers'' parental responsibility 294 Concluding remarks - family rights - article 8 ''family life'' 295 Self-test questions 296 References 297 Further reading 299 10 Adoption - only permissible if nothing else will do 301 History of UK adoption 303 The legislation 304 Who can be adopted? And who can adopt 304 The current legal framework 307 Court orders 313 The placement order 319 Adoption order - when nothing else will do 321 Adoption or special guardianship order 322 Other orders 329 International adoption 331 Closing remarks: ''nothing else will do'' 334 Self-test questions 337 References 338 Further reading 340 11 Adolescent autonomy - the right to decide and to participate in court proceedings 342 Rights of the child and adolescent: general principles and sources of law 343 Under 16-year-olds and the Gillick competence precept 350 Applying Gillick - how can an adolescent acquire competence? 353 ''Gillick competence'': only a right to refuse consent? 355 Refusing saying no no no to blood, organs, sedation 359 Wardship - trump card 363 Adolescent participation in legal proceedings 367 Judicial activism or judicial paternalism 373 End game - a matter for Parliament! 376 Self-test questions 377 References 378 Further reading 380 12 Putting child welfare first in child ''custody'' and private disputes 381 Child custody throughout history 383 When parents fall out today 385 Partnership - conciliation and mediation 387 The legal framework 388 Guiding principles of the Children Act 389 The welfare checklist: six factors 391 Section 8 - the orders 400 Child arrangement order (CAO) for residence 401 Child arrangement order (CAO) for contact 403 Abusive partners and contact strategies 406 Specific issue order 410 Prohibited steps order 412 International relocation and abduction 414 International law 416 A legitimacy crisis in private law 425 Self-test questions 427 References 428 Further reading 431 13 The limitless jurisdiction of wardship 433 Contemporary high profile wardship cases 434 From the ancient to the modern jurisdiction of wardship 434 The inherent jurisdiction 436 The legal framework of wardship 438 Strictly wardship 440 The limitless jurisdiction 445 Practice direction 12d [1,2](b) - orders to prevent undesirable association 448 Practice direction 12d [1.2](c) - orders relating to medical treatment 12d [1.2](c) 450 Practice direction 12j (pd) wardship, abduction and habitual residence 459 Reform of wardship 463 Self-test questions 463 References 464 Further reading 465 14 Child protection: Local authority, the court and public law procedure 467 High profile cases 468 Child abuse - an historical denial 468 Abuse - from discrete incidents to totality context 472 Child abuse - an epidemic 478 The legal and procedural framework of safeguarding 479 Orders during the preliminary stage 490 Court interim orders 497 Child protection requires truth - fact finding expert opinion and the truthful parent 498 Concluding remarks - how well is the local authority doing in child protection? 504 Self-test questions 505 References 506 Further reading 509 15 ''Significant harm'': Judicial interpretations and state politics 510 Social policy and the threshold 512 The legal framework 513 Evidence - burden and standard 515 What conduct falls under ''significant harm'' s 31(10)? 516 Present significant harm: a temporal question 524 General principles pre-emptive strike 526 The much contested case - Re H and R (1995) ''likely to suffer'' 528 Care proceedings applications of sexual abuse in the shadow of Re H and R 530 Truth - uncertain perpetrators and physical injury 534 Supervision orders 543 Finale - how better can we protect children? 547 Self-test questions 549 References 550 Further reading 552 16 Financial provision for children 554 Background to child support 555 Child support: history 557 Self-test questions 579 References 579 Further reading 580 Index 582.