English family law


English family law concerns the law relating to family matters in England and Wales. Family law concerns a host of authorities, agencies and groups which participate in or influence the outcome of private disputes or social decisions involving family law. Such a view of family law may be regarded as assisting the understanding of the context in which the law works and to indicate the policy areas where improvements can be made.
The UK is made up of three jurisdictions: Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England and Wales. Each has quite different systems of family law and courts. This article concerns only England and Wales. Family law encompasses divorce, adoption, wardship, child abduction and parental responsibility. It can either be public law or private law. Family law cases are heard in both county courts and family proceedings courts, both of which operate under codes of Family Procedure Rules. There is also a specialist division of the High Court of Justice, the Family Division which hears family law cases.

Family relationships

Marriage and civil partnership

Trusts of the family home

Property on separation

Children

Parental responsibility

Children's rights

Child protection

Adoption

Case law

Decisions of the Court of Appeal may be issued orally, in which case no report is usually made available to the public. Important or difficult decisions, however, are published on the internet both by the Court Service and by the . The cases cited here provide examples.
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Statutory Instruments contain the rules that lay down court procedure. They frequently cross-reference each other, though many refer to the , which came in with the Children Act 1989. The list below contains many of the Statutory Instruments that have a bearing on family law, which are available from the Office of Public Sector Information.