Family Law 2022/23

Diagnostic (Formative) Assessment Instructions and Problem

Instructions

Task: Prepare a written answer to the problem set out below, drawing on
knowledge from the lectures in Weeks 1 and 2, Workshop 1 and your
additional reading.

Length: The diagnostic assessment should not exceed 750 words.

Everything (text and footnotes) counts towards the word limit. Students
should include a short bibliography, but this will not count towards the total
word limit. Please note that a bibliography is for books, articles, reports etc
that you may have consulted. It is not a list of cases or statutes.

Percentage Value: This assignment is purely diagnostic and formative. It is designed to provide
you with some feedback on written work of the same style as the summative
assessment. Therefore, it does not count towards your overall mark for the
course.

Submission: The diagnostic assessment should be submitted on Moodle by 4pm on

Monday 6th February. Further information regarding submission will be
provided on the course Moodle page.

1
The Problem

Lucy and Robert met online in 2021. They both have children from previous relationships, and they
connected through their shared experiences of parenting in the aftermath of relationship
breakdown and the challenges of parenting throughout the pandemic induced ‘lockdowns’. Their
relationship quickly became ‘serious’ with Robert proposing in the summer of 2022. While the
couple had not been together long, Lucy is sure that ‘he is the one’ and agrees that they should
marry as quickly as they can organise the wedding.

As neither member of the couple is religiously observant, Robert arranges for Micheal, whose
website describes him as offering ‘non-religious and humanist wedding ceremonies’, to act as the
couple’s celebrant. Michael is very enthusiastic, and Robert thinks he is perfect for the couple;
however, Lucy feels that Michael can be vague on details and his approach to planning the wedding
ceremony seems unusual. Moreover, Lucy was brought up in a very traditional, religious family, and
has a somewhat strained relationship with her parents. Indeed, when she tells them about her plans
to marry Robert, her father tells her that ‘only Church weddings are legal in Scotland’. Robert
assures her that her parents are wrong, that they have ‘old fashioned’ ideas, and that there will be
no issues with Michael performing the wedding.

The couple had planned to marry in the gardens of a local hotel. However, the day of the wedding
ceremony arrives with torrential rain, which has left the gardens sodden, and the couple along with
Michael decide that given the terrible weather and poor condition of the garden it would be better
to move the ceremony inside the hotel itself. Thereafter, the ceremony takes place, the wedding
vows are exchanged, and the guests tell Lucy that it was wonderful ceremony. Lucy again felt that
Michael’s conducting of the ceremony itself was not what she had been expecting, but she had
started to get used to his personality by this stage.

After the ceremony, the day itself seemed to be a success; however, various issues have arisen since.
The next day, Lucy realises that the best man and bridesmaid (the couple’s two witnesses) have
accidentally signed their names in the wrong place, that is below each other’s details on the
marriage schedule. Then Lucy reads online about con artists who pose as wedding celebrants in
order to defraud couples, which makes her anxious about Michael’s credentials. Finally, she is
phoned by Robert’s ex, Sarah, who tells her that Robert and Sarah had lived together for seven years
and were therefore ‘common law married’, and that this meant that Robert was not legally
permitted to marry Lucy.

Lucy becomes concerned that the couple may not have properly complied with some of the
requirements of Scots law in relation to their wedding. Advise Lucy on the formalities of marriage
solemnisation in Scotland and on whether there are any grounds to challenge the validity of the
marriage.