The President of the Family Division is the head of the

Family Division The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

of the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

and head of Family Justice. The Family Division was created in 1971 when Admiralty and contentious probate cases were removed from its predecessor, the

Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

. The current president of the Family Division is Sir Andrew McFarlane. Sir

James Munby Sir James Lawrence Munby (born 27 July 1948) is a retired English judge who was President of the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales. He was replaced by Sir Andrew McFarlane on reaching the mandatory retirement age. Early l ...

retired as president on 27 July 2018.

Presidents of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division

* 1 November 1875: Sir James Hannen * 29 January 1891: Sir

Charles Butt Charles Clarence Butt (born February 3, 1938) is an American heir and billionaire. He inherited his family's San Antonio–based H-E-B supermarket chain in 1971. The privately held company has more than 400 stores and $38.9 billion in sales, ac ...

* 2 June 1892: Sir

Francis Jeune Francis Jeune (22 May 1806 – 21 August 1868), also known as François Jeune, was a Jersey-born clergyman, schoolmaster, and academic who served as Dean of Jersey (1838–1844) Master (college), Master of Pembroke College, Oxford (1844–1864 ...

* 30 January 1905: Sir Gorell Barnes * 10 February 1909: Sir John Bigham * 9 March 1910: Sir Samuel Evans * 18 October 1918: Sir

William Pickford William Pickford (1861–1938) was an English football administrator, who played an important role in the early development of The Football Association, in which he was its most recent President not to come from the British royal family. Early ...

(The Lord Sterndale from November 1918) * 31 October 1919: Sir Henry Duke (The Lord Merrivale from 1925) * 2 October 1933: Sir

Boyd Merriman Frank Boyd Merriman, 1st Baron Merriman of Knutsford, (28 April 1880 – 18 January 1962), known as Boyd Merriman, was a British Conservative politician and judge. Education Merriman was born in Knutsford, Cheshire, and educated at Winchester ...

(The Lord Merriman from 1941) * 8 February 1962: Sir Jocelyn Simon (The Lord Simon of Glaisdale from February 1971) * 20 April 1971: Sir George Baker (President of the Family Division after the relevant provisions of the

Administration of Justice Act 1970 The Administration of Justice Act 1970 (c. 31) is a UK act of Parliament. Section 11 reforms the Debtors Act 1869 by further restricting the circumstances in which debtors may be sent to prison. Section 40 includes a number of provisions forbi ...

came into force on 1 October 1971)

Presidents of the Family Division

* 1 October 1971: Sir George Baker (President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division before the relevant provisions of the

came into force on 1 October 1971) * 28 September 1979: Sir John Arnold * 11 January 1988: Sir Stephen Brown * 1 October 1999: Dame

Elizabeth Butler-Sloss Ann Elizabeth Oldfield Butler-Sloss, Baroness Butler-Sloss, GBE, PC (''née'' Havers; born 10 August 1933) is a retired English judge. She was the first female Lord Justice of Appeal and was the highest-ranking female judge in the United King ...

* 7 April 2005: Sir Mark Potter * 13 April 2010: Sir Nicholas Wall (Retired 1 December 2012) *11 January 2013: Sir

*28 July 2018: Sir Andrew McFarlane

Legal significance

On someone dying intestate (i.e. without having made a valid will), the property of the deceased formerly legally vested in the president of the Family Division until the Probate Registry made a grant of grant of administration to the deceased's personal representatives. The property now vests in the

Public Trustee In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

until a grant is made.Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1994, section 14.

Notes

References

* David Butler and Gareth Butler, ''Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000'', Macmillan, 2000 * Chris Cook and Brendan Keith, ''British Historical Facts 1830–1900'', Macmillan, 1975 {{reflist, 30em High Court of Justice English family law

Presidents of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division

Presidents of the Family Division

Legal significance

See also

Notes

References