L3 UNIT 5: Family Law, Corrections of exercises 1 & 2 p. 56

Exercise 1 : 

1- In order for couple to divorce, the two parties have to prove to the judge that their 

marriage is over by using one of the five set grounds for divorce. 

2- Although surrogacy is legalised in England and Wales, this type of arrangement cannot 

be a commercial one and is not binding on the parties. 

3- Unlike married couples who have rights and duties towards each other, cohabitants are 

not protected by the law, except in cases of domestic violence. 

4- Parenthood is determined either genetically or by a court decision in cases of adoption. 

Exercise 2: 

The Government has announced plans to introduce new legislation that explicitly makes clear that 

children should have an ongoing relationship with both their parents after separation, where that is 

safe and in the child's best interests 

The Children Act 1989 sets out the clear principle that a child's welfare is always paramount in 

any family court decision about their future. However, Ministers argue that the benefit of ongoing 

involvement with both parents is not explicitly stated in law even though it is factored into 

decisions. 

The Government would like to amend section 1 of the Children Act 1989 to require the court to 

"work on the presumption that a child's welfare is likely to be furthered through safe involvement 

with both parents - unless the evidence shows this not to be safe or in the child’s best interests.[…] 

The proposals are likely to make little practical difference to what currently happens in family 

courts and make clear that any change is not about equality in time that a child spends with each 

parent after separation. They state explicitly, there is no intention that equal time or any prescribed 

notion of an ‘appropriate' division of time, should be the starting point of a court's consideration. 

The consultation also asks how to toughen sanctions to enforce breaches of court orders regarding 

care arrangements - including, where there is a wilful refusal to comply with the court, short-term 

punitive action to protect the longer-term interests of the child. The existing sanctions of a fine or 

imprisonment for contempt of court, or an order to undertake unpaid work, are not often used. 

The proposals were first proposed in February - as part of the Government's response to the 

independent Family Justice Review Panel. The consultation closes on Wednesday 5 September 

2012.