News Archive 2007
10th Annual Probate Section Conference
Jan Atkinson was one of the organizers of the 10th annual Probate Section Conference for Wills and Probate lawyers at the Intercontinental on the 5 and 6 July. Kit and the Widow went down a storm as the cabaret at the black tie gala dinner on the Thursday night.
The conference was a huge success, as can be seen from the comments received.
"The format of the conference was excellent. "
"Excellent value for money and a great opportunity to meet fellow practitioners. The dinner was superb!"
"An extremely well balanced and valuable two days."
"The venue, facilities, organization and particularly the hotel's food were superb - many congratulations to all members of the Probate Section Executive Committee and Law Society staff for their organization of this excellent conference."
"One of the best conferences recently."
"I did not realise how little I knew before this event."
"Extremely useful as an update on areas crucial to our area of work, particularly for a young lawyer!!"
"Materials are great- v.pleased to have notes from all workshops, not just the ones I attended."
"Well organised and valuable."
"Please may we have an overnighter next year?"
"This has been a very enjoyable and valuable event. The opportunity to meet experienced colleagues and expert practitioners is very useful and the chance of a social is always welcome."
Adoption – New Law and Practice,
Domestic and Intercountry Adoption
21 March 2007
Naomi Angell solicitor and David Vavrecka barrister from Coram Chambers host an evening on Adoption – new law and practice,
Domestic and intercountry adoption
Intercountry adoption (ICA) covers all adoptions with a foreign element, where the UK is either the receiving state, or the state of origin and sending state of the child.
Although often regarded as a specialist area of law covering a small number of cases and where practitioners are unlikely to encounter more than a few cases in the course of their career . Also where the ones that you do hear about are high profile cases which appear in the media e.g. Angelina Jolie or Madonna or notorious cases such as the “Internet Twins” case of 2002.
The reality is actually quite different. The cases in fact cover a wide range of situations and a broad spectrum of people, ranging from
- Childless couple wanting to adopt a young unrelated baby from abroad, maybe China or Russia.
- Expatriate single woman who wants to adopt a child while living and working abroad and then wants to bring the child back to the UK for recognition of the adoption and to obtain British nationality for the child.
- Relatives in this country wanting to adopt a child gifted to them by a family member abroad or to adopt an orphaned related child from a foreign country.
- A child brought here for a visit, maybe for education, medical treatment or a visit and relatives or an unrelated family decide to adopt the child.
- An English man marries a foreign woman and wants to adopt her child by a previous relationship abroad and for the child to live as a member of the family in this country.
- A child in care proceedings, where the best placement is a placement with relatives abroad.
- Family members in this country wanting to gift a child for adoption by childless relatives abroad.
The common factor is the foreign element when the UK can either be the
receiving country of the child or the country sending the child abroad where the UK is the child’s country of origin.
It is an area of law relevant to solicitors and barristers advising prospective adopters, and also birth families where the child is to be sent abroad. Also adoption social workers, childrens guardians and local authority legal departments, which are increasingly getting involved in these cases.
Osbornes represents mother in landmark decision in the High Court
 This
was the first reported decision to establish that if a husband
and wife agree by consent to dismiss their property claims
against each other under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 this
does not prevent a party issuing a claim on behalf of a child
under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989 for property on
the basis of issue estoppel.
Resolution Scheme
 Andrew
Watson is the fourth member of Osbornes Family Department
to achieve specialist status under the acclaimed Resolution
scheme and joins Naomi Angell, Bridget Thompson and Mark Freedman
who between them can now offer expert advice across a range
of specialist areas. The Resolution accreditation scheme is
the first accreditation scheme of its kind and is recognised
as the most strigent test of expertise in particular areas
of family law practice. Originally set up in 1999, the scheme
is designed to help people who are facing a family breakdown
to make an informed choice when deciding which lawyer to appoint.
To become a Resolution accredited specialist, lawyers have
to agree to uphold the Resolution code of practice and to
have passed a written test demonstrating a breadth of knowledge
of family law issues and specialist knowledge in at least
two areas of family law.
Andrew, who qualified in 2001, has been at Osbornes since 1999. He has been accredited in the areas of Advanced Financial provision and Cohabitation. |
