The statement of arrangements for children in matrimonial proceedings, and the requirement for the court to give a certificate of satisfaction or otherwise, in relation to those arrangements, have now been scrapped. I also see that the petition guidance notes state that details of the children no longer have to be pleaded and that any details given are only for statistical purposes. Does this mean that the court has absolutely no interest at decree nisi stage in what is happening to the children, no matter how concerned it may be about certain material apparent to it? Further, what happens if there is a dispute about whether or not a child is a child of the family and there is to be a financial remedy application in which this could be relevant? Does the issue have to be determined as part of the financial remedy application?
The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004 no longer contain any provision requiring the court, when certifying or making a decree nisi, to consider whether its powers under the Children Act 1989 might be needed in relation
