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‘Joint tenancy’ is one of two ways of owning a property jointly. The other way is ‘tenancy in common‘. The expressions are a little confusing because they have nothing to do with rented property. A couple who own their property as joint tenants own the property jointly on the basis that if one of them dies the other automatically
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A person whose spouse or civil partner owns the couple’s home in his/her sole name can register their ‘home rights’ at the Land Registry. The effect of doing this is that the property cannot be sold, because any prospective purchaser will insist on the home rights notice being cleared off the register before proceeding. This protects the
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CAFCASS stands for ‘Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service’. CAFCASS will be involved in most court cases involving children, usually at the beginning of the case trying to help the parents reach agreement and sometimes later in the case preparing a report and recommendation for the court. For more information on CAFCASS, visit their website: Previously
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At the end of each hearing during a case, the judge will consider whether he should make an order for costs. ‘Costs reserved’ means that that the judge is postponing making a decision on the costs of that hearing. The judge may specify when the decision is to be made, e.g. ‘Costs of today reserved
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‘Costs’ is used by solicitors in slightly different ways depending on the context. It can mean specifically the fees charged by the solicitor, for example: “I estimate that my costs will be £500 plus VAT and disbursements.” It can mean the overall cost of a case, for example: “By the time the order was implemented,
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To pray is simply to ask. The prayer in a divorce petition is the part where the petitioner asks the court what he or she wants the court to order. Typically this will be that the marriage be dissolved and that various financial orders be made. There may also be a request that the court
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To serve a document is to ensure that the recipient receives it. Service can be personal, where the papers are handed to the recipient in person, or postal. Papers can be served by one solicitor on another by DX (for DX see 15th June). Most firms of solicitors do not accept service by email. Sometimes
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To lodge a document at the court, usually by sending it by post or DX (see post of 15th June). What happens when the court office receives the document depends on what the document is. It may require action – for example, if it is a divorce petition the court office will open a file,
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You may want to read Decree Nisi first. When the decree is made absolute the divorce is finalised and the marriage is dissolved. ‘Absolute’ is an adjective, so ‘decree absolute’ is equivalent to ‘final order’. The application to make the decree absolute can be made by either the Petitioner or the Respondent, but different rules
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The court order dissolving a marriage is called a decree, and is made in two stages. The first stage is the decree nisi. ‘Nisi’ is Latin for ‘unless’. When a judge pronounces the decree nisi in a divorce case, s/he is saying that the marriage is to be dissolved unless something, for example the appearance of new
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