Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1978

2E+WAny order made or other thing done under the M1Matrimonial Proceedings (Magistrates’ Courts) Act 1960 which is in force immediately before the coming into force of Part I of this Act shall not be affected by the repeal by this Act of that Act, and the provisions of that Act shall after the coming into force of the said Part I apply in relation to such an order, and to an order made under that Act by virtue of paragraph 1 above, subject to the following modifications—

(a)on a complaint for the revocation of the order the court shall not be bound under section 8 of that Act to revoke the order by reason of an act of adultery committed by the person on whose complaint the order was made;

(b)on a complaint for the variation, revival or revocation of the order, the court, in exercising its powers under the said section 8 in relation to a provision of the order requiring the payment of money, shall have regard to any change in any of the matters to which the court would have been required to have regard when making that order if the order had been made on an application under section 2 of this Act;

[F1(bb)on a complaint after the coming into force of paragraph 27 of Schedule 1 to the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 for the variation, revival or revocation of the order, the court, in exercising its powers under the said section 8 in relation to any provision of the order requiring the payment of money, shall have power to order that payments required to be made for the maintenance of a child of the family shall be made to the child himself.]

(c)where the order contains a provision for the legal custody of a child, the court shall have power, on a complaint made by a grandparent of the child, to vary that order under the said section 8 by the addition to the order of a provision requiring access to the child to be given to that grandparent;

(d)where the court, by virtue of paragraph (c) above, varies the order by the addition of a provision requiring access to a child to be given to a grandparent, the court shall have power to vary or revoke that provision on a complaint made—

(i)by that grandparent, or

(ii)by either party to the marriage in question, or

(iii)where the child is not a child of both the parties to the marriage, by any person who though not a party to the marriage is a parent of the child, or

(iv)where under the order a child is for the time being committed to the legal custody of some person other than one of the parents or a party to the marriage, by the person to whose legal custody the child is committed by the order.