Family Group

Areas of Experience

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• Recognition of Foreign Same-sex Marriages

• Deeds of Family Arrangement

• Guardianship of Custody orders

• Fertility law

  • Surrogacy and assisted reproduction

  • Donor conception

  • Adoption and parental rights

  • Fertility treatment law

• ​Adoption of children

• Parental rights orders

• Declarations of parentage, legitimacy etc.

• International Children law

• Immigration issues

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“[T]he family takes an almost infinite variety of forms. Many marry according to the rites of non-Christian faiths. People live together as couples, married or not, and with partners who may not always be of the other sex. Children live in households where their parents may be married or unmarried. They may be brought up by a single parent, by two parents or even by three parents. Their parents may or may not be their natural parents. They may be children of parents with very different religious, ethnic or national backgrounds. They may be the children of polygamous marriages. Their siblings may be only half-siblings or step-siblings. Some children are brought up by two parents of the same sex. Some children are conceived by artificial donor insemination. Some are the result of surrogacy arrangements. The fact is that many adults and children, whether through choice or circumstance, live in families more or less removed from what, until comparatively recently, would have been recognised as the typical nuclear family. This, I stress, is not merely the reality; it is, I believe, a reality which we should welcome and applaud.”

– Sir James Lawrence Munby President of the Family Division of the High Court of England & Wales

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Our modern families team is uniquely qualified to advise and assist in relation to modern families.  Our members are the leading experts and advocates in this area of law, especially in the recognition of foreign same-sex relationships, protecting the family and parental rights of children of modern families, and in relation to fertility law.  Our members invented the use of guardianship to extend parental rights to same-sex spouses [e.g. AA v. BB [2021] 2 HKLRD 1225], adoption orders for same-sex partners [e.g. Re M [2021] 4 HKLRD 476], foster to adopt [e.g. Re G [2018] 4 HKC 518 and on appeal in [2020] HKCA 307], and have pioneered recognition of same-sex marriages [e.g. Leung Chun Kwong v. Secretary for the Civil Service and Anor [2019] 22 HKCFAR 282]. They are willing and available to advise in relation to surrogacy and other fertility issues.

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For more information about our experience, please contact our support team or see the profiles of our members.

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Pantheon Family

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Pantheon Family has the depth and breadth of expertise and experience to deal with the full range of family work through its main specialist sub-groups. From the most complex disputes to smaller and lower value ones, every case is treated with the utmost importance and respect. We also provide a full and bespoke out of court Dispute Resolution service which utilises the expert skills of our family barristers as mediators, arbitrators and through private FDR hearings. The expertise of several members is recognised by the most prominent legal directories.

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Our Ethos

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We aim to provide the highest levels of service, with the emphasis on quality, approachability and accessibility. We aim to provide excellent and cost–effective advice and representation. We recognise the pressures that our solicitor clients face daily and the emotional pressures upon our lay clients. Our objective is to ease the burden on both.

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As a team, we hold regular meetings and conduct in–house training to build expertise and excellence through shared experience. We also provide updating for our regular solicitors through our publications and lectures (in–house by arrangement – please contact us). Our publications are praised and much sought–after.

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Many members of the team also blog on issues relating to family law. You will find links to their social media feeds on their profile pages.

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Support Team

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Please contact our Practive Development Manager, Sukie Cheung at sukie@pantheonchambers.com

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