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Public v family

06 March 2008 / David Burrows
Issue: 7311 / Categories: Features , Public , Legal services , Family
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Child support is a family, not an administrative, matter says David Burrows (from the barricades)

A strange and uncomfortable cohabitation exists between family (private), and administrative (public), lawyers over interpretations of the Child Support Act 1991 (CSA 1991) and in representation of parents and the secretary of state for work and pensions in child support proceedings. Is the law of child support maintenance more akin to family law; or is it more aptly the province of the administrative lawyer? You might think the name was a giveaway: finance for children surely implies family law? I doubt the lawyers who represent the secretary of state for work and pensions (who act in these cases) would agree.

My last case on child support (in early February) was an application for a declaration for two parents who said that certain aspects of the scheme had denied them the right to a fair—or indeed any—trial of issues relating to two assessments to child support maintenance many years ago. They were long out of time, probably,

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Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

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One in five in-house lawyers suffer ‘high’ or ‘severe’ work-related stress, according to a report by global legal body, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC)
The Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO’s) plea for a budget increase has been rejected by the Law Society and accepted only ‘with reluctance’ by conveyancers
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Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
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