Content:
1. Marriage & Civil Partnership
- Definition of the Family
- Definition of Marriage
- Marriage as a status or contract
- The presumption of Marriage
- A right to Marry
- Engagement to marry
- Property and gifts between engaged couples in the event of termination
of engagement
- Engaged couples and domestic violence
- Contracting a valid marriage
- Capacity to Marry
- Formalities of Marriage
- Marriage and the definition of sex
- Civil Partnerships
2. The Law of Nullity
- Non-marriages, void marriages and voidable marriages
- Void Marriages
- Voidable Marriage
- Grounds on which a marriage is voidable: s12 MCA 1973
- Bars to a nullity decree
- Other effects of a decree of nullity: consequences in addition to the
decree
- Civil Partnerships
- Annulment of a civil partnership
3. Divorce
- Causes of Divorce
- Grounds for Divorce – A historical overview
- The current law – the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973
- The Facts – Adultery, Unreasonable behaviour, Desertion, 2-year
separation and consent & 5-year Separation
- Dissolution of Civil Partnerships
4. Finances and Property upon Divorce/ Dissolution
- Orders that can be granted under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973
- Statutory factors to be taken into account when making orders
- Pensions
- How does the law reallocate marital property?
- S25(2) MCA Factors
- Pre-marital and Post-marital Agreements
5. Cohabitation
, - Statutory Provisions Providing Guidance for a definition
- Judicial Discretion in assessing whether 2 persons are cohabitants
- Same-sex couples not in CP/M: same status as opposite-sex unmarried
couples
- Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants
6. Domestic Violence
- Non-molestation orders
- Orders without notice (ex parte orders)
- Undertakings (promises to the court)
- Crime and Security Act 2010: DVPN & DVPO
- Occupation orders
- ‘Entitled’ applicants
- Non-entitled applicants
7. Inheritance & Consequences of the Death of a Family Member
- Devolution of property on death
- Devolution of property on intestacy
- Categories of applicants under Inheritance (Provision for Family &
Dependants) Act 1975
- Reasonable financial provision