In the final quarter of 2012 there has been no lack of family law cases and news to discuss. From surrogacy to cohabitation, celebrities and gay marriage, there has been plenty to write about and some of the most interesting stories follow.
October
At the beginning of October I examined the mysterious case of the disappearing mother. This story involved a surrogate mother disappearing before giving consent to a parental order. I looked at the facts of the case and explained why English law protects the surrogate mother and considers her the legal parent even if she isn’t the biological parent.
I also thought it would be useful to many of my male readers to look at the rights of men to financial support after divorce. I did this in a post called ‘Holding the purse strings’.
A bitter international dispute caught my attention in October. This was a case involving the forcible return of four sisters from Australia to Italy and I discussed it in the following post: ‘Going home?’
November
In November I reflected on some interesting figures released by the Office for National Statistics, which suggested that cohabitation figures had almost doubled in just 16 years.
I also shared the news that the Hague Convention on the protection of children entered UK law. The Convention covers a variety of international legal matters related to the protection of children.
Divorce is of course very difficult for a lot of children, especially when mummy or daddy start seeing someone new. I looked at potential dangers in this emotional minefield in an article called ‘Post divorce relationships and children’.
December
Another celebrity divorce hit the headlines this month. Dennis Quaid filed for divorce from wife Kimberley Buffington-Quaid, seeking joint custody of the couple’s four year old twins.
Another international family law case aroused my interest at the beginning of the month, when the first gay divorce was granted in Israel. This groundbreaking case involved Professor Uzi Even and Dr Amit Kama, who were also the first male same-sex couple in Israel to have the legal right of adoption recognised.
There have been plenty of other captivating stories on the blog in December and one of the most interesting was Sesame Street tackling divorce. The legendary children’s show produced a guide to divorce for its preschool viewers, showing kids that it is ok to have a whole range of feelings and that they are not alone if their parents separate.
