The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the mother’s appeal against the orders of the County Court and Family Court for supervised contact and an order made under s 91(14) of the Children Act 1989 (CA 1989).
The Family Division set out the principles applicable to an application for security for costs in family cases and, specifically, how the power to award costs in r 20.6 and 20.7 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 should be exercised, and held that, in the instant case, the applicant mother had been entitled to an order for security for costs.
The Family Division, in an application by the applicant husband to change his financial obligations made under a court order, held that it was unlikely the COVID-19 could be a qualifying event under the case of Barder v Barder [1988] AC 20, [1987] 2 FLR 480, but it would depend on the facts of the case.
The Family Division decided a preliminary issue regarding the role of the Practice Guidance: Placements in unregistered children's homes in England or unregistered care home services in Wales (the Practical Guidance), in the use of the inherent jurisdiction of the court for unregistered placements.