Category: Child Support

SH v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Ch and Revenue and Customs (CSM) (Child Support – Calculation of Income): UTAA 3 May 2018

the non-resident parent’s gross income from and including the effective date of 8 November 2015 is to be calculated without regard to regulation 36(2)(b) of the Child Support Maintenance Calculation Regulations 2012.

Citations:

[2018] UKUT 157 (AAC)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Child Support

Updated: 22 April 2022; Ref: scu.616363

Secretary of State for Social Security v Shotton and Others: QBD 30 Jan 1996

Magistrates have no power to question an assessment made by the Child Support Agency when making a deduction order.

Citations:

Independent 30-Jan-1996, [1996] 2 FLR 241

Statutes:

Child Support Act 1991 32(6)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Farley v Child Support Agency and Another; Farley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (No. 2) HL 28-Jun-2006
Magistrates were wrong to think they had a discretion to look at the validity of a liability assessment under child support legislation. The Act gave the payer alternative avenues of appeal, and therefore the Act should be read as it stated and the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Child Support

Updated: 22 April 2022; Ref: scu.89096

Re B (Parentage): FD 1996

A mother applied for financial provision for her twin children under 1989 Act Sch 1. The father asked whether he was their parent within the Schedule. They had been born by artificial insemination. He accepted that he was the donor of the sperm and the biological father, but said that whilst he willingly donated the sperm, by the time the insemination took place he had parted from the mother and was at that stage not asked to consent to the actual insemination.
Held: The court considered the effect of the provisions of paragraph the 1990 Act with regard to ‘receiving treatment services together.’ On the facts the ‘father’ had gone to the hospital for the beginning of the procedure together with the mother and it was part of a plan in which they were both willing and anxious to produce a child with the father’s sperm. Although the father’s relationship with the mother had ended by the time the actual insemination was carried out, he was a willing consenting party to the treatment which they had commenced together when the sperm sample was taken and he had not subsequently withdrawn his deemed consent. The exception to the requirement for written consent applied.

Judges:

Bracewell J

Citations:

[1996] 2 FLR 15

Statutes:

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 Sch3 5(3), Children Act 1989 Sch 1

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – AHE Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust v A and Others (By Their Litigation Friend, the Official Solicitor), The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority B, B QBD 26-Feb-2003
An IVF treatment centre used sperm from one couple to fertilise eggs from another. This was discovered, and the unwilling donors sought a paternity declaration.
Held: Section 28 did not confer paternity. The mistake vitiated whatever consents . .
Cited – Regina v Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority ex parte DB Admn 17-Oct-1996
Sperm which had been taken from a dying and unconscious man may not be used for the later insemination of his surviving wife. The Act required his written consent.
Held: Community Law does not assist the Applicant. The question had been . .
Cited – In Re R (Parental responsibility: IVF baby); D (A Child), Re HL 12-May-2005
The parents had received IVF treatment together, but had separated before the child was born. The mother resisted an application by the father for a declaration of paternity.
Held: The father’s appeal failed. The Act made statutory provision . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children, Health, Child Support

Updated: 20 April 2022; Ref: scu.182940

Wakefield v Secretary of State for Social Security and another: CA 24 Feb 2000

A fireman paying child support retired after being injured. He received a pension in two parts. Both were included as income for the calculation of child support. He claimed that the injury pension should be excluded.
Held: He failed. The court said that the injury pension was not a payment of damages for personal injuries, not being calculated by reference to any loss of earnings, or expenses arising from the injury. The way such payments were viewed under tax law was not relevant.

Citations:

Gazette 24-Feb-2000, Times 01-Mar-2000

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Child Support, Benefits

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.90236

Re C: FD 10 Oct 1994

The Secretary of State was not obliged under Child Support legislation to disclose a father’s address.

Citations:

Ind Summary 10-Oct-1994

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Child Support

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.85734

In Re N (A Minor) (Adoption: Foreign Guardianship): FD 27 Jun 2000

Somebody who had been appointed guardian of a child by a foreign court but which order was recognised here, had sufficient standing to be the person entitled to give consent to an adoption or whose consent could be dispensed with. The Act should be read to give a wider construction as to the person able to give consent, and the authorities interpreted accordingly.

Citations:

Times 27-Jun-2000

Statutes:

Adoption Act 1976 16(1)

Adoption, Child Support

Updated: 08 April 2022; Ref: scu.82068

In Re C (A Minor) (Child Support Agency: Disclosure): FD 7 Oct 1994

There is no power to use the Child Support Agency to obtain a father’s address. The Children Act is to be used instead. The Secretary of State was not obliged under Child Support legislation to disclose a father’s address.

Citations:

Times 07-Oct-1994, Gazette 09-Nov-1994

Statutes:

Child Support Act 1991 50(6)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Child Support, Children

Updated: 08 April 2022; Ref: scu.81783

In Re C (A Minor: Contribution Notice): FD 13 May 1993

The father appealed against an order for contribution under the 1989 Act. It was argued that the contributing parent must simply cut his cloth acording to his means, and organise his life to follow first his duty to maintain his child.
Held: The magistrates had not given reasons for their decision, but the court had to endeavour to assist. The Act required the justices to have due regard to the contributors means. The Act set out explicitly the standard to be applied, in para 21(6) and maintenance was not payable save as set out. ‘Essentially the exercise was to assess a contributor’s means by references to the sources of his income and the manner in which he had expended that income. Due regard had to be had to the result of that balancing mathematical exercise and the court clearly had to have regard to wholly unreasonable expenditure. However, provided money was reasonably expended, it did not seem that a value judgment could be superimposed so as to require a court to say that a contributor should not have expended a particular sum of money because of a prior liability to his child. The justices were to allow parents for reasonable and actual expenses when fixing maintenance: ‘The strange state of our law is that there may be a so-called common law duty to maintain, but when one analyses what that duty is it seems effectively to have come to nothing. Like so many rights, the right extends only so far as the remedy to enforce it extends. . . the common law has no remedy. The remedies to enforce a duty to maintain are statutory remedies which are variously laid down in numerous statutes.’

Judges:

Ward J

Citations:

Times 13-May-1993, [1994] 1 FLR 111

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 Sch 2

Cited by:

Cited – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Kehoe CA 5-Mar-2004
The claimant had applied to the Child Support Agncy for maintenance. They failed utterly to obtain payment, and she complained now that she was denied the opportunity by the 1991 Act to take court proceedings herself.
Held: The denial of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children, Child Support

Updated: 08 April 2022; Ref: scu.81788

Hackshaw v Hackshaw: FD 29 Jul 1999

Even though in some circumstances there was no formal requirement imposed on magistrates by statute to give reasons for their decision, where that decision was capable of being appealed the giving of reasons was greatly to be encouraged, since in the event of a success at appeal, the appeal court need not order a re-hearing.

Citations:

Times 29-Jul-1999

Statutes:

Maintenance Orders Act 1958 4 (2) (a)

Child Support

Updated: 08 April 2022; Ref: scu.81124

French v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Another: CA 13 Mar 2018

The father was a professional gambler, deriving his entire income from these activities. The court was asked whether that income was to be taken into account in assessing his liability to pay Child Support.
Held: His appeal was allowed.

Judges:

Hickinbottom, Coulson LJJ

Citations:

[2018] EWCA Civ 470

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Child Support (Maintenance Assessment and Special Cases) Regulations 1992

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Child Support

Updated: 05 April 2022; Ref: scu.605865

Barnes v Barnes: CA 28 Jul 1972

Judges:

Russell, Edmund-Davies, Stamp LJJ

Citations:

[1972] EWCA Civ 2, [1972] 1 WLR 1381, [1972] 3 All ER 872

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Kehoe, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions HL 14-Jul-2005
The applicant contended that the 1991 Act infringed her human rights in denying her access to court to obtain maintenance for her children.
Held: The applicant had no substantive right to take part in the enforcement process in domestic law . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Child Support

Updated: 23 March 2022; Ref: scu.262754

Rowley and others v Secretary of State for Department of Work and Pensions: CA 19 Jun 2007

The claimants sought damages for alleged negligence of the defendant in the administration of the Child Support system.
Held: The defendant in administering the statutory system owed no direct duty of care to those affected: ‘a common law duty of care owed by the Secretary of State to the claimants would be inconsistent with the statutory scheme created by the 1991 Act.’ The agency owed its duties not to the claimants but to the state; it had not assumed a responsibility recognised by the common law; and the statutory mechanisms for assessment and enforcement of maintenance contra-indicated any superadded liability.

Judges:

Waller LJ, Keene LJ, Dyson LJ

Citations:

Times 06-Jul-2007, [2007] EWCA Civ 598, [2007] 1 WLR 2861

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Child Support Act 1991

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Barrett v London Borough of Enfield HL 17-Jun-1999
The claimant had spent his childhood in foster care, and now claimed damages against a local authority for decisions made and not made during that period. The judge’s decision to strike out the claim had been upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Cited – Kehoe, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions HL 14-Jul-2005
The applicant contended that the 1991 Act infringed her human rights in denying her access to court to obtain maintenance for her children.
Held: The applicant had no substantive right to take part in the enforcement process in domestic law . .
Cited – JD v East Berkshire Community Health NHS Trust and others HL 21-Apr-2005
Parents of children had falsely and negligently been accused of abusing their children. The children sought damages for negligence against the doctors or social workers who had made the statements supporting the actions taken. The House was asked if . .
Cited – Gorringe v Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council HL 1-Apr-2004
Statutory Duty Not Extended by Common Law
The claimant sought damages after a road accident. The driver came over the crest of a hill and hit a bus. The road was not marked with any warning as to the need to slow down.
Held: The claim failed. The duty could not be extended to include . .

Cited by:

Cited – Home Office v Mohammed and Others CA 29-Mar-2011
The claimants sought damages saying that after a decision had been made that they should receive indefinite leave to remain in 2001 (latest), the leave was not issued until 2007 (earliest) thus causing them severe losses. The defendant now appealed . .
Cited – Poole Borough Council v GN and Another SC 6-Jun-2019
This appeal is concerned with the liability of a local authority for what is alleged to have been a negligent failure to exercise its social services functions so as to protect children from harm caused by third parties. The principal question of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Child Support, Negligence

Updated: 11 February 2022; Ref: scu.253494

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v M: HL 8 Mar 2006

The respondent’s child lived with the estranged father for most of each week. She was obliged to contribute child support. She now lived with a woman, and complained that because her relationship was homosexual, she had been asked to pay more than someone in a heterosexual relationship.
Held: The claim failed. The regulations had now been updated by the 2004 Act. In 1991 the discrimination was in accordance with the views and standards current at the time. As to the claim for infringement of her right to respect for family life: ‘Ms M’s case on respect for private life also fails, for similar reasons. There has been no improper intrusion on her private life. She has not been criminalised, threatened or humiliated. The Tribunal respectfully recorded that she and her partner ‘were living in a very close, loving and monogamous relationship.’ Her complaint is that the state has calculated her liability to contribute to her children’s maintenance under a formula which is different from (and on the particular facts of her case, more onerous than) that which would have been used if she had been in a heterosexual relationship. The link with respect for her private life is in my view very tenuous indeed. ‘ and ‘the CSA is concerned as an official intermediary, but it is enforcing a personal obligation of the absent parent. It is no more expropriating property than . . . when the civil justice system enforces a private contract by converting a contract debt into a judgment debt which can be recovered by the process of execution. ‘
Lord Walker examined the Strasbourg case law on Article 8 in the context of private life and found that ‘the unique feature’ of Article 8 in that context was that: ‘it is concerned with the failure to accord respect. To criminalise any manifestation of an individual’s sexual orientation plainly fails to respect his or her private life, even if in practice the criminal law is not enforced (Dudgeon v United Kingdom 4 EHRR 149 and Norris v Ireland 13 EHRR 186); so does intrusive interrogation and humiliating discharge from the armed forces (Smith v United Kingdom 29 EHRR 493 and Lustig-Prean v United Kingdom 29 EHRR 548). Banning a former KGB officer from all public sector posts, and from a wide range of responsible private-sector posts, is so draconian as to threaten his leading a normal personal life (Sidabras v Lithuania 42 EHRR 104). Less serious interference would not merely have been a breach of article 8; it would not have fallen within the ambit of the article at all.’

Judges:

Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead, Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Mance

Citations:

[2006] 2 AC 91, [2006] UKHL 11, Times 14-Mar-2006, [2006] 2 WLR 637, [2006] 1 FCR 497, [2006] 2 FLR 56, [2006] UKHRR 799, [2006] 36 Fam Law 524, 21 BHRC 254, [2006] HRLR 19, [2006] 4 All ER 929

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Child Support Act 1991, European Convention on Human Rights 14, Civil Partnerships Act 2004, Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992 (1992/1815), Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Fitzpatrick v Sterling Housing Association Ltd HL 28-Oct-1999
Same Sex Paartner to Inherit as Family Member
The claimant had lived with the original tenant in a stable and long standing homosexual relationship at the deceased’s flat. After the tenant’s death he sought a statutory tenancy as a spouse of the deceased. The Act had been extended to include as . .
Cited – Mata Estevez v Spain ECHR 10-May-2001
The claimant complained that the state did not give proper recognition of his relationship with his deceased same sex partner.
Held: The court noted the growing tendency in a number of European states towards the legal and judicial recognition . .
Cited – Kehoe, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions HL 14-Jul-2005
The applicant contended that the 1991 Act infringed her human rights in denying her access to court to obtain maintenance for her children.
Held: The applicant had no substantive right to take part in the enforcement process in domestic law . .
Cited – Sidabras and Dziautas v Lithuania ECHR 27-Jul-2004
Former KGB officers had been banned from employment in a range of public and private sector jobs, including as lawyers, notaries, bank employees and in the teaching profession. They complained of infringement of Article 8 taken alone and also in . .
Cited – Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza CA 5-Nov-2002
The applicant sought to succeed to the tenancy of his deceased homosexual partner as his partner rather than as a member of his family.
Held: A court is bound by any decision within the normal hierachy of domestic authority as to the meaning . .
Appeal From – Langley v Bradford Metropolitan District Council and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions CA 15-Oct-2004
It was discriminatory to treat differently homosexual and heterosexual couples when considering liability for child support payments. Sedley LJ: ‘The broad effect of the material provisions is to allocate the financial responsibility of separated . .
Cited – Botta v Italy ECHR 24-Feb-1998
The claimant, who was disabled, said that his Article 8 rights were infringed because, in breach of Italian law, there were no facilities to enable him to get to the sea when he went on holiday.
Held: ‘Private life . . includes a person’s . .
Cited – Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza HL 21-Jun-2004
Same Sex Partner Entitled to tenancy Succession
The protected tenant had died. His same-sex partner sought a statutory inheritance of the tenancy.
Held: His appeal succeeded. The Fitzpatrick case referred to the position before the 1998 Act: ‘Discriminatory law undermines the rule of law . .
Cited – Karner v Austria ECHR 24-Jul-2003
A surviving same-sex partner sought a right of succession to a tenancy (of their previously shared flat). Interveners ‘pointed out that a growing number of national courts in European and other democratic societies require equal treatment of . .
Cited – Relating to certain aspects of the laws on the use of languages in education in Belgium (Belgian Linguistics) No 2 ECHR 9-Feb-1967
The applicants, parents of more than 800 Francophone children, living in certain (mostly Dutch-speaking) parts of Belgium, complained that their children were denied access to an education in French.
Held: In establishing a system or regime to . .
Cited – Abdulaziz etc v The United Kingdom ECHR 28-May-1985
Three women, all lawfully settled in the UK, had married third-country nationals but, at first, the Secretary of State had refused permission for their husbands to remain with them, or join them, in the UK.
Held: The refusals of permission had . .
Cited – National Union of Belgian Police v Belgium ECHR 27-Oct-1975
Hudoc No violation of Art. 11; No violation of Art. 14+11
The Belgian Government failed to consult a municipal police union about legislation affecting public sector employment rights. The union’s direct . .
Cited – Connors v The United Kingdom ECHR 27-May-2004
The applicant gypsies had initially been permitted to locate their caravan on a piece of land owned by a local authority, but their right of occupation was brought to an end because the local authority considered that they were committing a . .
Cited – Goodwin v The United Kingdom ECHR 11-Jul-2002
The claimant was a post operative male to female trans-sexual. She claimed that her human rights were infringed when she was still treated as a man for National Insurance contributions purposes, where she continued to make payments after the age at . .
Cited – Frette v France ECHR 26-Feb-2002
A single homosexual man complained that the respondent state had made it impossible for him to adopt a child.
Held: The claim was within the ambit of article 8 as regards respect for family life, but the court dismissed the claim under article . .
Cited – Pretty v The United Kingdom ECHR 29-Apr-2002
Right to Life Did Not include Right to Death
The applicant was paralysed and suffered a degenerative condition. She wanted her husband to be allowed to assist her suicide by accompanying her to Switzerland. English law would not excuse such behaviour. She argued that the right to die is not . .
Cited – Hooper and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions HL 5-May-2005
Widowers claimed that, in denying them benefits which would have been payable to widows, the Secretary of State had acted incompatibly with their rights under article 14 read with article 1 of Protocol 1 and article 8 of the ECHR.
Held: The . .
Cited – Abdulaziz etc v The United Kingdom ECHR 28-May-1985
Three women, all lawfully settled in the UK, had married third-country nationals but, at first, the Secretary of State had refused permission for their husbands to remain with them, or join them, in the UK.
Held: The refusals of permission had . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for Defence Ex Parte Smith; Regina v Same Ex Parte Grady Etc CA 6-Nov-1995
A ban on homosexuals serving in the armed forces was not irrational, and the challenge to the ban failed. The greater the policy content of a decision, and the more remote the subject matter of a decision from ordinary judicial experience, the more . .
Cited – Logan v United Kingdom ECHR 6-Sep-1996
The complaint was that the mandatory child support payments meant that the father could not visit his children as often as he was entitled under the court’s order to do. The complaint of a direct breach of article 8 failed because he could not show . .
Cited – Gammans v Ekins CA 1950
The plaintiff had lived with a woman tenant for over 20 years and they had been regarded in the neighbourhood as man and wife.
Held: He could not thereby be deemed a member of her family for the Act of 1920. If their relationship was sexual . .
Cited – Dyson Holdings Ltd v Fox CA 17-Oct-1975
The defendant had lived with the tenant for 21 years until his death. They were unmarried and had no children. Reversing the County Court judge, the Court of Appeal ruled that she was a member of his family. It was absurd to distinguish between two . .
Cited – S, Regina (on Application of) v South Yorkshire Police; Regina v Chief Constable of Yorkshire Police ex parte Marper HL 22-Jul-2004
Police Retention of Suspects DNA and Fingerprints
The claimants complained that their fingerprints and DNA records taken on arrest had been retained after discharge before trial, saying the retention of the samples infringed their right to private life.
Held: The parts of DNA used for testing . .
Cited – Regina v British Broadcasting Corporation ex parte Pro-life Alliance HL 15-May-2003
The Alliance was a political party seeking to air its party election broadcast. The appellant broadcasters declined to broadcast the film on the grounds that it was offensive, being a graphical discussion of the processes of abortion.
Held: . .
Cited – Bellinger v Bellinger HL 10-Apr-2003
Transgender Male to Female not to marry as Female
The parties had gone through a form of marriage, but Mrs B had previously undergone gender re-assignment surgery. Section 11(c) of the 1973 Act required a marriage to be between a male and a female. It was argued that the section was incompatible . .
Cited – Regina (Reprotech (Pebsham) Ltd) v East Sussex County Council Reprotech (Pebsham) Ltd v Same HL 28-Feb-2002
The respondent company had asserted that the local authority had made a determination of the issue of whether electricity could be generated on a waste treatment site without further planning permission. The council said that without a formal . .
Cited – Bellinger v Bellinger CA 17-Jul-2001
Transgender Male may not marry as Female
Despite gender re-assignment, a person born and registered a male, remained biologically a male, and so was not a woman for the purposes of the law of marriage. The birth registration in this case had been correct. The words ‘male and female’ in the . .

Cited by:

Cited – Smith v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Another HL 12-Jul-2006
The House considered whether under the 1992 Regulations a self-employed parent could use for his child support calculation his net earnings as declared to the Revenue, which would allow deduction of capital and other allowances properly claimed . .
Cited – Wilkinson v Kitzinger and others FD 31-Jul-2006
The parties had gone through a ceremony of marriage in Columbia, being both women. After the relationship failed, the claimant sought a declaration that the witholding of the recognition of same-sex marriages recoginised in a foreign jurisdiction . .
Cited – Associated Newspapers Ltd v Prince of Wales CA 21-Dec-2006
The defendant newspaper appealed summary judgment against it for breach of confidence and copyright infringement having published the claimant’s journals which he said were private.
Held: Upheld, although the judge had given insufficient . .
Cited – Murray v Express Newspapers Plc and Another ChD 7-Aug-2007
The claimant, now aged four and the son of a famous author, was photographed by use of a long lens, but in a public street. He now sought removal of the photograph from the defendant’s catalogue, and damages for breach of confidence.
Held: The . .
Cited – AL (Serbia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Rudi v Same HL 25-Jun-2008
Each claimant had arrived here with their parents, and stayed for several years. They were excluded from the scheme allowing families who had been here more than three years to stay here, because they had attained 18 and were no longer dependant on . .
Cited – Gallagher (Valuation Officer) v Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints HL 30-Jul-2008
The House considered whether certain properties of the Church were subject to non-domestic rating. Various buildings were on the land, and the officer denied that some fell within the exemptions, and in particular whether the Temple itself was a . .
Cited – G, Regina (on the Application of) v Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust Admn 20-May-2008
The applicants were detained at Rampton. The form of detention denied the access to space in which they would be able to smoke cigarettes to comply with the law.
Held: The claim failed. The legislative objectives were sufficiently serious to . .
Cited – Rodriguez v Minister of Housing of The Government and Another PC 14-Dec-2009
Gibraltar – The claimant challenged a public housing allocation policy which gave preference to married couples and parents of children, excluding same sex and infertile couples.
Held: The aim of discouraging homosexual relationships is . .
Cited – Steinfeld and Another v Secretary of State for Education CA 21-Feb-2017
Hetero Partnerships – wait and see proportionate
The claimants, a heterosexual couple complained that their inability to have a civil partnership was an unlawful discrimination against them and a denial of their Article 8 rights. The argument that the appellants’ case did not come within the ambit . .
Cited – McLaughlin, Re Judicial Review SC 30-Aug-2018
The applicant a differently sexed couple sought to marry under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, but complained that they would lose the benefits of widowed parent’s allowance. Parliament had decided to delay such rules to allow assessment of reaction . .
Cited – DA and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions SC 15-May-2019
Several lone parents challenged the benefits cap, saying that it was discriminatory.
Held: (Hale, Kerr LL dissenting) The parents’ appeals failed. The legislation had a clear impact on lone parents and their children. The intention was to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Child Support, Human Rights, Discrimination

Leading Case

Updated: 07 February 2022; Ref: scu.238923

Dalton, Regina (on The Application of) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: Admn 10 Feb 2017

Application for judicial review of the decision by the Secretary of State, made through the Child Support Agency not to reimburse him for overpaid child support in the sum of andpound;43,617.72

Judges:

Nathalie Lieven QC

Citations:

[2017] EWHC 213 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Child Support

Updated: 31 January 2022; Ref: scu.575296

MQB v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and SRB (CSM): UTAA 19 Oct 2021

Child support – Variation: other – Non – resident parent with unearned income – Child Support Maintenance Calculations Regulations 2012, reg.69 – Interpretation of reg.69(6).
Child support – Variation: diversion of income – Child Support Maintenance Calculations Regulations 2012, reg.71 – Circumstances in which omitting to draw income from a company raises the issue of diversion – AB v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and RS (CSM) [2021] UKUT 129 (AAC) followed.

Citations:

[2021] UKUT 263 (AAC), [2021] WLR(D) 595

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Child Support

Updated: 29 January 2022; Ref: scu.671284

T v Child Support Agency: QBD 7 May 1998

A putative father has no appeal against incorrect finding of paternity. His only remedy is to apply to the High Court under Ord. 15 r 16 for a declaration of paternity. Similarly there was no right for a father to request a declaration of paternity.

Gazette 07-May-1998
Child Support Act 1991 27
England and Wales

Child Support

Updated: 26 January 2022; Ref: scu.89675

Carrington v Revenue and Customs: CA 26 Nov 2021

Whether the respondent, Mrs Carrington, was entitled to continue to receive United Kingdom (‘UK’) child benefit when in late August 2011 she left England with her husband and her son (whom I will call T) to live permanently in Spain. The child benefit was payable in respect of T, who was then 11 years old. If Mrs Carrington had remained ordinarily resident in Great Britain, and continued to be responsible for T’s care, she would in the usual way, and absent any material change of circumstances, have been entitled to continue receiving child benefit weekly in respect of T at least until he was 16.

Lady Justice Carr, Lord Justice Lewis And Sir Launcelot Henderson
[2021] EWCA Civ 1724
Bailii, Judiciary
England and Wales

Benefits, Child Support

Updated: 10 December 2021; Ref: scu.670076

Haroutunian v Jennings: FD 1980

It is not wrong for the court to augment the periodical payments order for a child to include an allowance for the mother, especially if the mother has to give up work or is unable to work because she has to look after the child. A child’s need for a carer enables account to be taken of the caring parent’s needs

Sir George Baker P
[1980] FLR 62
England and Wales

Child Support

Updated: 06 December 2021; Ref: scu.244878

Giltinane v Child Support Agency: FD 9 Mar 2006

The applicant sought to appeal against a liability order out of time.
Held: The time limit for appeals was not extendable. However the magistrates finding had been based upon misleading evidence supplied by the Agency. Where as here there was a risk of a miscarriage of justice, it was open to the claimant to seek a judicial review of the magistrates’ decision. If there was no other way of providing justice a review would be granted. The decision was reviewed.

Munby J
Times 07-Apr-2006
England and Wales

Child Support, Judicial Review

Updated: 06 December 2021; Ref: scu.240156

JM v United Kingdom: ECHR 28 Sep 2010

The applicant alleged that she had been the victim of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the assessment by the authorities of her financial liability under the regulations on child support.

Lech Garlicki, P
[2010] ECHR 1361, 30 BHRC 60, [2010] Fam Law 1270, [2010] 3 FCR 648, [2011] 1 FLR 491, (2011) 53 EHRR 6
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights, Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992 1(2)
Citing:
See Also – JM v United Kingdom ECHR 21-Nov-2008
. .
At Commissioner – (Un-named) SSCS 1-Oct-2003
The mother had challenged payments required of her by way of child support. The Secretary of State now appealed.
Held: The appeal was rejected: ‘a gay relationship can be a family for the purpose of [A]rticle 8’. There was no reason, in the . .
At CA – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v M CA 15-Oct-2004
M had challenged the Child Support Regulations saying that they discriminated against her. She was the liable parent, and in a monogomoud lesbian relationship. As such she said that she was treated worse than she would have been since the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Discrimination, Child Support

Updated: 28 November 2021; Ref: scu.519966

Kehoe, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: HL 14 Jul 2005

The applicant contended that the 1991 Act infringed her human rights in denying her access to court to obtain maintenance for her children.
Held: The applicant had no substantive right to take part in the enforcement process in domestic law which is capable in Convention law of engaging the guarantees in it. ‘Sympathetic though one must be with Mrs Kehoe, who appears to have suffered extreme frustration and a measure of loss, one cannot in my opinion ignore the wider principle raised by this case. This is that the deliberate decisions of representative assemblies should be respected and given effect so long as they do not infringe rights guaranteed by the Convention. As they have made clear, it is not for the Strasbourg institutions, under the guise of applying the procedural guarantees in article 6, to impose legislative models on member states. Whether the scheme established by the 1991 Act is on balance beneficial to those whom it is intended to benefit may well be open to question, but it is a question for Parliament to resolve and not for the courts, since I do not consider that any article 6 right of Mrs Kehoe is engaged.’
Baroness Hale Of Richmond, dissenting: ‘ . . . children have a civil right to be maintained by their parents which is such as to engage article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Their rights are not limited to the rights given to the parent with care under the Child Support Act. The provisions of that Act are simply a means of quantifying and enforcing part of their rights.’ and ‘the system is trying to do. It is trying to enforce the children’s rights. It is sometimes, as this case shows, lamentably inefficient in so doing. It is safe to assume that there are cases, of which this may be one, where the children’s carer would be much more efficient in enforcing the children’s rights. The children’s carer has a direct and personal interest in enforcement which the Agency, however good its intentions, does not. Even in benefit cases, where the state does have a direct interest in enforcement, it is not the sort of interest which stems from needing enough money to feed, clothe and house the children on a day to day basis. Only a parent who is worrying about where the money is to be found for the school dinners, the school trips, the school uniform, sports gear or musical instruments, or to visit the ‘absent’ parent, not only this week but the next and the next for many years to come, has that sort of interest. A promise that the Agency is doing its best is not enough. Nor is the threat or reality of judicial review.’

Lord Bingham Of Cornhill, Lord Hope Of Craighead, Lord Walker Of Gestingthorpe, Baroness Hale Of Richmond, Lord Brown Of Eaton-Under-Heywood
[2006] AC 42, [2005] UKHL 48, Times 15-Jul-2005, [2005] 3 WLR 252
House of Lords, Bailii
Child Support Act 1991
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Kehoe CA 5-Mar-2004
The claimant had applied to the Child Support Agncy for maintenance. They failed utterly to obtain payment, and she complained now that she was denied the opportunity by the 1991 Act to take court proceedings herself.
Held: The denial of . .
At first instance – Regina (Kehoe) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions QBD 16-May-2003
The applicant had been obliged under statute to have her claim for maintenance for her child pursued thorugh the Child Support Agency. She said that through the delay and otherwise, her claim had been lost.
Held: The statute debarred the . .
Cited – Golder v The United Kingdom ECHR 21-Feb-1975
G was a prisoner who was refused permission by the Home Secretary to consult a solicitor with a view to bringing libel proceedings against a prison officer. The court construed article 6 of ECHR, which provides that ‘in the determination of his . .
Cited – Matthews v Ministry of Defence HL 13-Feb-2003
The claimant sought damages against the Crown, having suffered asbestosis whilst in the armed forces. He challenged the denial to him of a right of action by the 1947 Act.
Held: Human rights law did not create civil rights, but rather voided . .
Cited – James and Others v The United Kingdom ECHR 21-Feb-1986
The claimants challenged the 1967 Act, saying that it deprived them of their property rights when lessees were given the power to purchase the freehold reversion.
Held: Article 1 (P1-1) in substance guarantees the right of property. Allowing a . .
Cited – Z And Others v The United Kingdom ECHR 10-May-2001
Four children complained that, for years before they were taken into care by the local authority, its social services department was well aware that they were living in filthy conditions and suffering ‘appalling’ neglect in the home of their . .
Cited – Huxley v Child Support Agency CA 2000
The court gave an extensive analysis of the workings of the Child Support Act: (Lady Justice Hale) ‘It is important to bear in mind that the child support scheme is not simply a method for the State to recoup part of its benefit expenditure from the . .
Cited – H v Belgium ECHR 30-Nov-1987
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Violation of Art. 6-1; Pecuniary damage – claim rejected; Non-pecuniary damage – financial award; Costs and expenses award – Convention proceedings
It is for . .
Cited – Department of Social Security v Butler CA 11-Aug-1995
The Secretary of State was not entitled to a Mareva injunction preventing the disposal of assets against a parent pending the issue of a child support assessment. The court refused a freezing order:- (Morritt LJ) ‘The Child Support Act introduced a . .
Cited – Pinder v United Kingdom ECHR 1984
(Commission) ‘The Commission . . recalls that the concept of ‘civil rights’ is autonomous. Thus, irrespective of whether a right is in domestic law labelled ‘public’, ‘private’, ‘civil’ or something else, it is ultimately for the Convention organs . .
Cited – Govier v Hancock 1796
A wife’s agency of necessity subsisted only if the wife was justified in living apart from her husband. She would lose it for ever if she was guilty of adultery, no matter how badly her husband had behaved. . .
Cited – Rex v Friend 1802
Where a mother had proper custody of a child, an agency of necessity extended to her purchase of necessaries for the child as well as for herself. . .
Cited – Hesketh v Gowing 1804
Where a father placed his children in the care of a nurse or servant, he might have financial responsibility for necessaries bought for the child. . .
Cited – Runa Begum v London Borough of Tower Hamlets (First Secretary of State intervening) HL 13-Feb-2003
The appellant challenged the procedure for reviewing a decision made as to the suitability of accomodation offered to her after the respondent had accepted her as being homeless. The procedure involved a review by an officer of the council, with an . .
Cited – V v V (Ancillary relief: Power to order child maintenance) FD 6-Jun-2001
The parties had sought a child maintenance order form the court, but the husband resiled from his agreement.
Held: Where the court was unexpectedly blocked in this way, it had a power to make an order for payment by way of a lump sum of the . .
Cited – Regina (Holding and Barnes plc) v Secretary of State for Environment Transport and the Regions; Regina (Alconbury Developments Ltd and Others) v Same and Others HL 9-May-2001
Power to call in is administrative in nature
The powers of the Secretary of State to call in a planning application for his decision, and certain other planning powers, were essentially an administrative power, and not a judicial one, and therefore it was not a breach of the applicants’ rights . .
Cited – Jones v Newtown and Llanidloes Guardians 1920
A wife’s agency of necessity of her husband is suspended whilst she is in desertion. . .
Cited – McGowan v McGowan 1948
Just as a husband’s common law duty to maintain his wife would normally be discharged by providing the home which they shared, the father’s duty to maintain his children would be discharged by providing them with a home. . .
Cited – Delaney v Delaney CA 22-May-1990
The court made an order for nominal periodical payments for children whose mother was receiving social security benefits. Nourse LJ said: ‘Whilst this court deprecates any notion that a former husband and extant father may slough off the tight skin . .
Cited – Ashingdane v The United Kingdom ECHR 28-May-1985
The right of access to the courts is not absolute but may be subject to limitations. These are permitted by implication since the right of access ‘by its very nature calls for regulation by the State, regulation which may vary in time and place . .
Cited – Lilley v Lilley 1960
A wife’s agency of necessity of her husband was not lost if they were obliged to live apart for no fault of hers. . .
Cited – Barnes v Barnes CA 28-Jul-1972
. .

Cited by:
Cited – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v M HL 8-Mar-2006
The respondent’s child lived with the estranged father for most of each week. She was obliged to contribute child support. She now lived with a woman, and complained that because her relationship was homosexual, she had been asked to pay more than . .
Cited – Smith v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Another HL 12-Jul-2006
The House considered whether under the 1992 Regulations a self-employed parent could use for his child support calculation his net earnings as declared to the Revenue, which would allow deduction of capital and other allowances properly claimed . .
Cited – Rowley and others v Secretary of State for Department of Work and Pensions CA 19-Jun-2007
The claimants sought damages for alleged negligence of the defendant in the administration of the Child Support system.
Held: The defendant in administering the statutory system owed no direct duty of care to those affected: ‘a common law duty . .
Cited – Regina v G (Secretary of State for the Home Department intervening) HL 18-Jun-2008
The defendant was fifteen. He was convicted of statutory rape of a 13 year old girl, believing her to be 15. He appealed saying that as an offence of strict liability he had been denied a right to a fair trial, and also that the offence charged was . .
Cited – Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission v Beesley and Another ChD 11-Mar-2010
The agency challenged the inclusion in an individual voluntary arrangement of the father’s arrears of child support. The creditors meeting had approved a full and final settlement. 94% of the debts were arrears of child support. The Commission said . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Child Support

Leading Case

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.228601

Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission v Beesley and Another: ChD 11 Mar 2010

The agency challenged the inclusion in an individual voluntary arrangement of the father’s arrears of child support. The creditors meeting had approved a full and final settlement. 94% of the debts were arrears of child support. The Commission said that such arrears were not subject to the arrangement, and the arrangement was unfair to it.
Held: Child support debts are excluded as a bankruptcy debt, but not for an individual voluntary arrangement, being included within the definition in section 382(4). The statute appeared to include a deliberate choice not to exclude such debts. The Commission might avoid the consequences of it being concluded that such debts were subject to the IVA by attending and voting. It had chosen not to do so.
However, the scheme failed to recognise the particular character of the debt, and the scheme was therefore unfair and was set aside.

Pelling QC J
[2010] EWHC 485 (Ch), [2010] 2 FLR 164, [2010] BPIR 552, [2010] Fam Law 579
Bailii
Child Support Act 1991, Insolvency Act 1986 263(3) 382(4)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Department of Social Security v Butler CA 1995
The effect of the 1991 Act is that the court has no jurisdiction to grant an injunction to prevent an absent parent from disposing of his assets. A detailed consideration of the 1991 Act shows that it provides a detailed and comprehensive scheme and . .
Cited – in Re Bradley-Hole (A Bankrupt) ChD 1995
There was a conflict between the creditors who were party to the IVA and a subsequent trustee in bankruptcy; and the bankruptcy was petitioned by a new creditor who was unaffected by the IVA.
Held: The IVA had created a trust of the bankrupt’s . .
Cited – Kehoe, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions HL 14-Jul-2005
The applicant contended that the 1991 Act infringed her human rights in denying her access to court to obtain maintenance for her children.
Held: The applicant had no substantive right to take part in the enforcement process in domestic law . .
Applied – Re A Debtor (No.488 IO of 1996), JP v A Debtor ChD 1999
The debtor had been ordered to pay his wife a sum by way of ancillary relief in matrimonial proceedings. He then proposed an IVA, which was approved at a creditors meeting. W had notice but did not attend. She along with all other creditors was to . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Child Support, Insolvency

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.402599

FS v RS and JS: FC 30 Sep 2020

Financial Relief for Adult son – No Jurisdiction

Adult but vulnerable son seeking financial relief against married and cohabiting parents.
Held: Refuse

Sir James Munby
[2020] EWFC 63, [2020] WLR(D) 532
Bailii, WLRD
Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, Children Act 1989, Human Rights Act 1998
England and Wales
Cited by:
Main Judgment – FS v RS and JS FC 11-Nov-2020
Footnote to main judgment. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Family, Human Rights, Child Support

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.654560

Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission v Gibbons; Same v Karoonian: CA 30 Oct 2012

Non-resident parents in each case appealed against suspended orders of imprisonment for non-payment of child support. They argued that the procedures used were indistinguishable from those held to be human rights non-compliant in Mubarak.
Held: The Commission had not taken all alternative enforcement steps first as required by the Act, and accordingly it was ot open to it to make the application it had made agsinst Mr Gibbons.
Whilst such enforcement fell to be judged to crimnal standards under human rights law, the Act did in fact provide a sufficiently precise statement of the offence to be compliant.
The section allowed a choice between a driving disqualification, and a sentence of imprisonment, and: ‘The right to liberty is such a fundamental human right that deprivation must always be an order of last resort. The order should not be made without good reason. Given that there is this choice of sanction, the liable person is entitled to know why the option of disqualification was rejected and why imprisonment was preferred. Those reasons need not be expressed at length: all that is required is that the defendant should understand why the court thinks that imprisonment is the more appropriate choice.’ No such indication or consideartion had been given in the second case, and that appeal must also succeed.
It was also said that the form of summons indicated a presumption of guilt – it was for the respndent to show cause why he should not be committed, and ‘There would be nothing wrong with the inquiry into means being conducted by the Commission proving that the defendant has – or at some time after the making of the liability order had – the means to pay and, having established the case to answer on that, going on to consider his conduct and whether there is wilful refusal or culpable neglect. The danger is that the two stages are rolled into one – little or no evidence of means but get the defendant into the witness box to explain himself. That is impermissible muddling up . . The ratio of Mubarak is clear enough. I regret that I cannot see why the same reasoning does not compel us to reach the same conclusion here, namely that the procedures in fact adopted are frequently not compliant with Article 6.’

Ward, Richards, Patten LJJ
[2012] EWCA Civ 1379, [2012] WLR(D) 300
Bailii
Child Support Act 1991, Child Support (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, European Convention on Human Rights 6
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Farley v Child Support Agency and Another; Farley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (No. 2) HL 28-Jun-2006
Magistrates were wrong to think they had a discretion to look at the validity of a liability assessment under child support legislation. The Act gave the payer alternative avenues of appeal, and therefore the Act should be read as it stated and the . .
Cited – Mubarak v Mubarak CA 2001
A judgment summons, issued was issued by the wife to enforce a lump sum order made against her husband in their divorce proceedings. The judge had performed his statutory duty which included having to satisfy himself under s. 25 of the 1973 Act of . .
Cited – Mubarak v Mubarak FD 30-Nov-2000
In ancillary relief proceedings, where a respondent company director conceded that the assets and income of a company could be treated as his own, it could be proper to draw aside the veil of incorporation. Nevertheless the court should be careful . .
Cited – Regina v A (Complainant’s Sexual History) (No 2) HL 17-May-2001
The fact of previous consensual sex between complainant and defendant could be relevant in a trial of rape, and a refusal to allow such evidence could amount to a denial of a fair trial to a defendant. Accordingly, where the evidence was so relevant . .
Cited – Regina v Rimmington; Regina v Goldstein HL 21-Jul-2005
Common Law – Public Nuisance – Extent
The House considered the elements of the common law offence of public nuisance. One defendant faced accusations of having sent racially offensive materials to individuals. The second was accused of sending an envelope including salt to a friend as a . .
Cited – Regina v Wolverhampton Magistrates Court ex parte Mould 1992
Kennedy LJ said: ‘the power to commit to prison [for a failure to pay local taxes] is plainly to be used as a weapon to extract payment rather than to punish’ . .
Cited – Lingens v Austria ECHR 8-Jul-1986
Freedom of expression, as secured in paragraph 1 of Article 10, constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society and one of the basic conditions for its progress and for each individual’s self-fulfilment. Subject to paragraph 2, . .
Cited – Salabiaku v France ECHR 7-Oct-1988
A Zairese national living in Paris, went to the airport to collect, as he said, a parcel of foodstuffs sent from Africa. He could not find this, but was shown a locked trunk, which he was advised to leave alone. He however took possession of it, . .
Cited – Sheldrake v Director of Public Prosecutions; Attorney General’s Reference No 4 of 2002 HL 14-Oct-2004
Appeals were brought complaining as to the apparent reversal of the burden of proof in road traffic cases and in cases under the Terrorism Acts. Was a legal or an evidential burden placed on a defendant?
Held: Lord Bingham of Cornhill said: . .
Cited – Keogh v Regina CACD 7-Mar-2007
The defendant was charged under the 1989 Act. He complained that the effect of the Act was to put an unfair burden on him to establish that he was unaware of the damaging effects of disclosure.
Held: The Act did not comply with the defendant’s . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Child Support, Human Rights, Magistrates

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.465555

Brough v Law: CA 20 Oct 2011

The parties had a child when they were married. A maintenance support order was made after they separated. They were briefly reconciled, and the father said that during that period there was no ‘qualifying child’ within the Act, and that therefore the existing order lapsed, and a new one would be required after the separation. He sought repayment of sums paid after the separation under the order.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘Weight must be attached to the presence of the expression ‘qualifying child’ in paragraph 16(1)(b) which requires reference to the definition of ‘qualifying child’ in section 3. That involves a further reference to the definition of ‘absent parent’ in section 3(2). An examination of paragraph 16(1) as a whole, however, drives me to the conclusion that it was not intended that a maintenance assessment would cease to have effect by reason of a short period of the parents living together:
(i) Such a conclusion would render sub-paragraph (a) at least partially and sub-paragraph (c) totally unnecessary and would undermine sub-paragraph (d) which deals expressly with persons living together.
(ii) The other sub-paragraphs in paragraph 16(1) contemplate a specific and permanent event and it is likely that sub-paragraph (b) was also intended to apply on the occurrence of a specific event, loss of status as a child, and not a transient one.
(iii) The presence of section 16(6) assumed the need for an application to the Secretary of State (now the Commission) to achieve a cancellation of the maintenance assessment when the parties are living together, a provision inconsistent with cancellation merely by living together.’

Pil, Rimer, Lewison LJJ
[2011] EWCA Civ 1183
Bailii
Child Support Act 1991 3(2)
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – SL v Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission UTAA 11-Dec-2009
The mother and father had been married and had a child. They separated, and she claimed income support. The father was assessed to be liable to Child Support, but he was assessed to a nil contribution. He found work and the assessment was increased. . .
Cited – SM v Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission (CSM) UTAA 8-Dec-2010
Child support – jurisdiction . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Child Support

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.445854

Farley v Child Support Agency and Another; Farley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (No. 2): HL 28 Jun 2006

Magistrates were wrong to think they had a discretion to look at the validity of a liability assessment under child support legislation. The Act gave the payer alternative avenues of appeal, and therefore the Act should be read as it stated and the magistrates had no such jurisdiction. ‘section 33(4) precludes the justices from investigating whether a maintenance assessment, or maintenance calculation in the current terminology, is a nullity. ‘
Lord Nicholls said: ‘The need for a strict approach to the interpretation of an ouster provision . . was famously confirmed in the leading case of Anisminic . . This strict approach, however, is not appropriate if an effective means of challenging the validity of a maintenance assessment is provided elsewhere. Then section 33(4) is not an ouster provision. Rather, it is part of a statutory scheme which allocates jurisdiction to determine the validity of an assessment and decide whether the defendant is a ‘liable person’ to a court other than the magistrates’ court.’ and ‘This statute introduced a new child maintenance scheme. The scheme was intended to provide an effective, cheap and speedy means to enforce parental support obligations. Another aim, of considerable importance, was to reduce dependence on social security and the cost to the tax payer.’

Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead, Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Hutton, Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe, Lord Mance
[2006] UKHL 31, Times 30-Jun-2006, [2006] Fam Law 735, [2006] 3 All ER 935, [2006] 2 FCR 713, [2006] 1 WLR 1817
Bailii
Child Support Act 1991 33(4), Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 , Child Support Act 1995
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Farley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (No 2) CA 22-Jun-2005
The Court of Apeal had previously considered an appeal from the grant of a liability order made by magistrates. It had become clear that the order had been made without jurisdiction.
Held: The order must be set aside. The court had no . .
Cited – Farley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Another CA 25-Jan-2005
The Respondent had sought a liability order against the appellant, the non-resident parent in respect of child support maintenance arrears. The appellant had asked the magistrates to consider whether he was liable to pay child support maintenance, . .
At First Instance – Farley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Admn 12-Jul-2004
The defendant and his wife were separated. The Child Support Agency assessed the contributions he was to make, and eventually pursued him in the magistrates court for arrears. The defendant argued that whilst the Act did prevent the magistrates . .
Cited – Secretary of State for Social Security v Shotton and Others QBD 30-Jan-1996
Magistrates have no power to question an assessment made by the Child Support Agency when making a deduction order. . .
Cited – Anisminic Ltd v Foreign Compensation Commission HL 17-Dec-1968
There are no degrees of nullity
The plaintiffs had owned mining property in Egypt. Their interests were damaged and or sequestrated and they sought compensation from the Respondent Commission. The plaintiffs brought an action for the declaration rejecting their claims was a . .
Cited – Secretary of State for Social Security and Another v Harmon and Another CA 5-Jun-1998
. .

Cited by:
Cited – A, Regina (on The Application of) v B; Regina (A) v Director of Establishments of the Security Service SC 9-Dec-2009
B, a former senior member of the security services wished to publish his memoirs. He was under contractual and statutory obligations of confidentiality. He sought judicial review of a decision not to allow him to publish parts of the book, saying it . .
Cited – Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission v Gibbons; Same v Karoonian CA 30-Oct-2012
Non-resident parents in each case appealed against suspended orders of imprisonment for non-payment of child support. They argued that the procedures used were indistinguishable from those held to be human rights non-compliant in Mubarak.
Child Support, Magistrates

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.242926

REW, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: Admn 13 Jun 2008

The claimant sought permission to bring judicial review of decisions of the Child Support Agency. He said that his payments should have been reduced for a period when he was in receipt of job seeker’s allowance. A liability order had been made against him, but for a later period.
Held: Leave was refused. The admission that the liability order related to a different period meant that the decision to enforce the liability order was not reviewable. Nevertheless the court considered the responsibility of different sections of the same department to take account of decisions about the same person. The Agency said that by the time it became aware of the payment of benefits, the 1991 Act precluded it from making a re-assessment. This was correct.

Andrew Nichol QC J
[2008] EWHC 2120 (Admin)
Bailii
Child Support Act 1991 16 17
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Kerr v Department for Social Development (Northern Ireland) HL 6-May-2004
Wrongful Refusal of Benefits
The claimant was estranged from his family, but claimed re-imbursement of the expenses for his brother’s funeral. The respondent required him to establish that none of his siblings was in a better position than he to pay for the funeral, but he had . .
Cited – Hinchy v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions HL 3-Mar-2005
The applicant had been dependent upon income support, and had then come to receive Disability Living Allowance (DLA). She therefore received additional income support, but the office did not adjust that benefit down when her DLA stopped. The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Child Support, Benefits

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.276233

Delaney v Delaney: CA 22 May 1990

The court made an order for nominal periodical payments for children whose mother was receiving social security benefits. Nourse LJ said: ‘Whilst this court deprecates any notion that a former husband and extant father may slough off the tight skin of familial responsibility and may slither away and lose himself in the greener grass on the other side, nonetheless this court has proclaimed and will proclaim that it looks to the realities of the real world in which we live, and among the realities of life is that there is a life after divorce. The respondent husband is entitled to order his life in such a way as will hold in reasonable balance the responsibilities to his existing family which he carries into his new life, as well as his proper aspirations for that new future.’

Nourse LJ
[1990] 2 FLR 457, [1990] EWCA Civ 14, [1991] FCR 161
Bailii
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Kehoe CA 5-Mar-2004
The claimant had applied to the Child Support Agncy for maintenance. They failed utterly to obtain payment, and she complained now that she was denied the opportunity by the 1991 Act to take court proceedings herself.
Held: The denial of . .
Cited – Kehoe, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions HL 14-Jul-2005
The applicant contended that the 1991 Act infringed her human rights in denying her access to court to obtain maintenance for her children.
Held: The applicant had no substantive right to take part in the enforcement process in domestic law . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Child Support

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.194405

CM v STS: SCS 2 Sep 2008

cm_stsSCS2008

The pursuer sought payment of substantial sums, having been disadvantaged by ceasing work to care for the parties’ children. She also asserted that the defender had been advantaged by her taking the care of the children. The parties were not married but had lived together, and a sum could now be claimed on cessation under the 1996 Act. The defender had fallen into arrears with his payments to the Child Support Agency.
Held: The court should exclude consideration of payments which might be recoverable by the Child Support Agency. The 2006 Act contained a danger that courts might make an order without regard to the resources available to a party to meet it.
Whilst each case is to be judged on its own merits, a contribution by one partner or spouse who looks after a house and or children can be balanced by the financial contributions made by the other spouse or partner and vice versa. Lord Matthews said: ‘The fact that the 1985 Act and the 2006 Act approach the problem from different directions does not, I think, affect the matter in principle. Either factors balance out or they do not. The effect of the balancing exercise will of course lead to difference consequences. Under the 1985 Act the principle of equal division may or may not be affected. Under the 2006 Act the payment of a capital sum may or may not be affected.’

Lord Matthews
[2008] ScotCS CSOH – 125, 2008 GWD 31-473, 2008 SLT 871
Bailii
Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 28(2)(a), Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985
Citing:
Cited – Ali v Andrew SCS 29-Jan-2003
. .
Cited – Welsh v Welsh 1994
. .
Cited – Adams v Adams (No 1) 1997
Lord Gill said: ‘The pursuer next relies on s 9(1)(b) (as read with s 9(2) and s 11(2).
She argues that the defender has enjoyed an economic advantage in that he has been able to further his career whereas she has prejudiced hers by bringing . .
Cited – Loudon v Loudon SCS 1994
Lord Milligan said: ‘I have considered carefully counsel’s submission on the question of the appropriate allocation of the matrimonial property. I am left in no doubt whatsoever that this should be an allocation in which, in the whole circumstances, . .

Cited by:
Cited – Gow v Grant SC 24-May-2012
The parties had lived together as an unmarried couple, but separated. Mrs Gow applied under the 2006 Act for provision. Mr Grant’s appeal succeeded at the Inner House, and Mrs Gow now herself appealed.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The Act did . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Scotland, Family, Child Support

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.273111

BH v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and SB (CSM): UTAA 8 Feb 2021

Child support – Other – Whether, when Secretary of State implements a decision of the First – tier Tribunal by following directions given by that Tribunal, the implementing decision is made under section 11 of the Child Support Act 1991, or under section 20 – Whether the Secretary of State subsequently has power to revise such an implementing decision under section 16 of that Act. Child support – Tribunal practice – Whether an abuse of process to seek to challenge earlier tribunal decisions in appeals against subsequent decisions by the Secretary of State in respect of later periods. Tribunal practice – Jurisdiction – Appeal against a decision the Secretary of State had no power to make.
[2021] UKUT 190 (AAC)
Bailii
England and Wales

Updated: 11 September 2021; Ref: scu.667696