Many questions are being raised with regards to what will happen to family legal disputes involving marriages, maintenance and children where one of the parties lives in the EU.

With a deal…

According to the guidance, if the UK leaves the EU with a deal there will be no changes made during the implementation period which is scheduled to end in December 2020.

Without a deal…

Cases which are concluded before 12^th April 2019 or are still ongoing will continue to be dealt with in the same way.

With children matters if there is an ongoing case in the UK, this will be dealt with the same way, but if the matter is in a EU court, the matter may need to be dealt with in a different court.

Cases where applications are to be made after 12^th April 2019, a new set of rules will apply.

More encouraging is regarding International Child Abductions which the Government have stated quite clearly that all cases issued on or after the 12^th April 2019 whether the UK leaves the EU with a deal or not the rules about Child Abduction wrongly retain children in the EU have mostly not changed. At this stage, it is unclear as to what will happen ultimately.

Its important for anyone considering making an application in the coming weeks to keep this in mind and take prompt advice.