Where is principal registry of the family division

Sign in Contact us. Halsbury's Laws of England. Sign-in Help. The Principal Registry of the Family Division. One series of films is for the London district or Principal Registry, and another series of films are for all the district registries.

These are arranged in the following sequence:. The films can be viewed at the library or through family history centers. The records are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under one of the following titles:. A country-wide surname index to the records is available, so it is much easier to look for post wills. The index gives:. The indexes are arranged by year then by surname and given name in alphabetical order. Any permission to reproduce TheLawPages.

WC1V 6NP. Court building open: Monday to Friday am to pm. Phone Numbers Appointments: Email Addresses Post court: cfc. Facilities Disabled access and toilet facilities are available. Assistance dogs are welcome Loop hearing facilities are available in the court rooms. Appeals from decisions of the judge ordinary of the court lay to the full court or, in certain cases,to the House of Lords. Under the act all persons admitted to practise as advocates or proctors in the ecclesiastical courts were entitled to practise in the new court together with barristers, attorneys and solicitors entitled to practise in the superior courts.

The miscellaneous jurisdiction of the division over, as Sir Alan Herbert once put it, 'wills, wives and wrecks' is generally ascribed to the fact that these three parts of the law had all been greatly influenced by the Roman law; and this was as true of proceedings under the canon law of the church courts, which had dealt with probate and matrimonial causes until , as it was of those of the Admiralty Court. The act provided that appeals in admiralty actions should be transferred from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to the Court of Appeal.

The jurisdiction of the Privy Council in prize appeals under the Naval Prize Act remained unaltered but as this was not clearly retained by the act it was later expressly declared by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act Appeals in matrimonial and probate causes, previously heard by the House of Lords, also passed to the Court of Appeal.

The central offices of the division were the Principal Probate Registry, which was also the Divorce Registry, situated at Somerset House, and the Admiralty Registry, housed in the Royal Courts of Justice, under the control of its own registrar. Cases heard by the Divorce Registry arose from petitions for decrees of divorce, nullity, judicial separation and restitution of conjugal rights.

The admiralty jurisdiction of County Courts and other inferior courts was also confirmed under the act. Taxation of costs in probate and divorce actions was undertaken by registrars of the Principal Registry and in admiralty cases by the registrar. From until the president of the division was also judge advocate general. Under the Administration of Justice Act the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division was re-named the Family Division and the High Court's jurisdiction in divorce and non-contentious probate cases passed to this division, together with other High Court business of a family nature such as guardianship and wardship proceedings previously dealt with by the Chancery Division.

Contentious probate work passed to the latter division and a separate Admiralty Court was established as part of the Queen's Bench Division. The Family Division was assigned jurisdiction in matrimonial causes and proceedings and non-contentious or common form probate business. Other High Court business of a family nature was taken over from the Chancery Division to which all other probate business was assigned. Causes and matters involving the High Court's admiralty jurisdiction, or its jurisdiction as a prize court, were assigned to the Queen's Bench Division.

The Family Division was empowered to hear appeals from decisions of County Courts and magistrates' courts in certain matrimonial and guardianship proceedings. Taxation of costs in the division is undertaken by the registrars of the Principal Registry.