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Family law never stands still. Legislation, rule changes, decisions from our higher courts that change previously accepted thinking and technological developments all keep practitioners on their toes. But what are the key changes and challenges facing family justice professionals and advisers in 2026?

 

 

Changes

Top of the list is almost certainly the wide-ranging consultation the government has promised to publish by this Spring, covering both financial remedies on divorce/dissolution and the law relating to cohabitants.

The legislation dealing with finances on divorce has been in place for over 50 years. There have been some statutory changes and a great deal of reinterpretation from the courts , some of it pretty seismic like the decision in White 25 years ago, but the fundamental discretionary approach in the 1973 Act remains the same. The Law Commission’s scoping report in December 2024 concluded that the law needed reform to create a cohesive framework to deliver fair and consistent outcomes, highlighting issues with the current wide discretion, the treatment of spousal maintenance and the fact that the value of pensions continues to be overlooked. The government consultation is also expected to look at marital agreements which the Law Commission in 2014 suggested should be formally binding subject to certain safeguards.

The campaign for giving unmarried cohabitants greater protection has been a longstanding one. The current government has committed to legislate but wants to consult on the options at the same time as reviewing the financial remedies position rather than doing it, in their words, “piecemeal”. Change here is long overdue. Cohabitation is the fastest growing family arrangement and the current law is complex, unfair and not fit for purpose.

It may still be some time before any new legislation comes into force, but the scene is now very definitely set for what will be the most fundamental changes in family law for a generation.

There are also significant developments in children law. The Pathfinder court programme that started to be piloted in 2022 to improve the handling of children cases by reducing the number of hearings, speeding up the process and working more effectively with families has now expanded into new regions. It has been well received and seems likely to become a model adopted nationwide in due course.

The government has also said it will repeal the presumption in current legislation that where it’s safe to do so both parents should be involved in the upbringing of their children. The argument for reform is that in practice the presumption has led to courts allowing contact where it hasn’t been safe, for example where there has been domestic abuse, and with tragic consequences. However, a number of practitioners believe that the problem is not with the legislation itself but rather with the lack of resources available in the justice system to ensure that it’s applied as it should be.

Cutting across both financial remedies and children cases is the continued and justified focus on Non- Court Dispute Resolution (NCDR). Any family lawyer doing the job properly will be encouraging clients to minimise conflict and to consider mediation, collaborative practice and increasingly the One Lawyer Two Client models as options to achieve this, but the courts are now required to take a tougher stance on this. That is going to become increasingly important.

Challenges

There is no doubt that the pressure on the family justice system is getting worse. Hearings are taking longer and longer to be listed. The demise of legal aid for the majority of cases continues to increase the number of people representing themselves which adds to the delays. As a consequence we will continue to see an increase in the number of private FDRs and arbitrations.

Finally, there is the onward march of AI, which impacts on family law and practice as it does everywhere else. This is both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is not whether to embrace it. It’s going to change the way we work and adapting to that is a business imperative. The challenge, and therefore the opportunity, is to identify and market the elements of our work that require those essential human attributes in the family practitioner, such as empathy and a deep understanding of the right approach to take based on experience, and then to harness AI and wider technology to deliver outstanding service.

There is a lot to look forward to in 2026!

 

Nigel Shepherd

 

 

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