District judges - Family
District Judges are salaried (full-time) judges who deal with the majority of cases in the county courts of England and Wales and so are heavily involved in family proceedings
Role of the District Judge - Family
Divorce and judicial separation cases are handled almost exclusively by district judges along with applications for ancillary relief in the course of them. These applications involve decisions on such matters as how the assets of the husband and wife should be shared and whether there should be any provision for maintenance and pension sharing. In due course, mirror proceedings for dissolution or separation arising out of civil partnerships that have broken down and ancillary relief applications made as a result will come the way of district judges in specified county courts.
In relation to the welfare of children of married or unmarried couples, district judges again play a key role. In each and every divorce, separation and nullity case where there are children, enquiries will be made as to the arrangements made for their welfare and district judges will wish to be satisfied that these arrangements are satisfactory. In disputed cases concerning such issues as where a child should live, what contact there should be between child and parent where the child does not live with that parent, whether one parent should be able to change a child’s surname or take the child abroad, district judges will be concerned – either trying the case or dealing with procedural hearings and investigating whether the parents can reach agreement through conciliation or mediation. specialist district judges are additionally involved in public law cases when children are removed from the care of their parents by local authorities.
Also within the remit of district judges – applications for child maintenance which for whatever reason cannot be dealt with by the Child Support Agency; lump sum and property transfer orders for the benefit of children; and applications for reasonable provision out of the estates of deceased persons in favour of their dependants when they say that they should have been left something or what they have been left is insufficient.