Staff profile

Research

Andy specialises in family law, especially the law relating to adult interpersonal relationships. Drawing upon historical and comparative law perspectives, his research critically analyses the legal regulation of formalised and non-formalised adult relationships and, in particular, the property consequences generated by their breakdown. Andy has presented his research at national and international conferences.

Andy is currently working on three research projects. The first project focuses on domestic and comparative cohabitation reform. Andy is currently exploring models of cohabitation reform and potential solutions to the absence of comprehensive cohabitation protections in England and Wales. This project builds upon Andy’s appointment as Specialist Adviser to the Women and Equalities Committee of the UK Parliament to advise on their Rights of Cohabiting Partners Inquiry and his engagement work with key stakeholders. In 2021, he launched with Professor Jens Scherpe a major global comparative study that analyses the legal protections afforded to cohabitants in over 40 jurisdictions. These findings will be published by Edward Elgar in De Facto Relationships: A Comparative Guide in 2025. He currently advises domestic and overseas policymakers on cohabitation reform and is working closely with key practitioner organisations such as Resolution with a view to securing reform in the future. Andy is also the project lead on the Cohabitation network of Family Law Reform Now and he has contributed to media coverage on this issue for BBC News, Times Radio, the iPaper, Today’s Media, The Conversation and ITV Tyne Tees.

The second project focuses on same-sex marriage and same-sex/mixed-sex civil partnership reform. He is currently exploring the evolution of 'equal' civil partnerships following the extension to the regime to mixed-sex couples in England and Wales in December 2019. Drawing upon comparative family law, he published in 2017 with Professor Jens Scherpe an edited collection with Intersentia entitled The Future of Registered Partnerships - Family Recognition beyond Marriage?. This research, and its implications for policy-makers, forms the foundation of the Reforming Civil Partnerships. In February 2020 Andy gave oral evidence to the Equalities and Human Rights Committee of the Scottish Parliament on the Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Act 2020.

The third project analyses family property and trusts of the family home. Andy has a particular interest in the 'familialisation of property law' evidenced in the development of both the common intention constructive trust and proprietary estoppel. His co-edited collection with Professor Margaret Briggs on Family Property and the Law was published with Edward Elgar in 2024. Andy’s research on family property has been cited favourably extra-judicially by Lord Kerr, former Justice of the UK Supreme Court. 

Andy as appointed to the Family Justice Council in 2024 as its Academic Member. He is currently an Associate Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. Andy has also held several visiting positions at universities across Europe including the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), the Institut de Droit Comparé Edouard Lambert, Université Jean Moulin III, Lyon (France) and the University of Cambridge (Faculty of Law and Bye-Fellow at Robinson College). 

Andy also holds first class degrees from the University of Durham (LLB (ELS) involving an ERASMUS year at the bilingual University of Fribourg in Switzerland) and the University of Cambridge (LLM (Magdalene College)).

Andy’s X handle is @DrAndyHayward; he tweets in a personal capacity.

Teaching

Andy currently teaches family law and has previously taught land law, equity & trusts and legal history. In 2009 he established the popular Law of Family Relationships module and to acknowledge student success on that course created the Sir Andrew McFarlane Prize in Family Law, offering the top three students marshalling opportunities at the Royal Courts of Justice. In recognition of his contribution to teaching on that course and more generally at Durham Law School he received the University Excellence in Learning and Teaching Award in 2016 and nominations for Oxford University Press Law Teacher of the Year Award and Lecturer of the Year by Durham University’s Student Union, LawCareers.Net and the Northern Law Awards.

He supervises undergraduate and LLM dissertations in the field of family law and acts as an Academic Adviser to students.

He has completed the Postgraduate Certificate of Academic Practice (PGCAP) and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Postgraduate Research Supervision

Andy has extensive experience of supervising postgraduate research students in the fields of Family Law and Equity. These include the one-year Master of Jurisprudence (MJur) and the three/four-year Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). He has also acted as external examiner on several projects. Andy was nominated for the award of Excellence in Research Student Supervision at the Durham University Learning and Teaching Awards 2022.

Previous postgraduate research projects supervised include the meaning of ‘needs’ in the granting of Financial Orders, reform of divorce law, the legal recognition of prenuptial agreements, the ‘familialisation’ of constructive trusts, parental responsibility for unmarried fathers, cohabitation reform and human rights, unjust enrichment, and the compatibility of the paramountcy principle under the Children Act 1989 with human rights law.

Andy welcomes PhD and MJur research proposals from students in the areas of family law (adult relationships), comparative family law and equity, especially trusts of the family home and family property.

Administration

Andy is currently Director of Postgraduate Research in the Law School. He oversees all matters relating to the MJur and PhD programmes. He previously served as Director of External Relations, Early Career Researcher Coordinator and Co-Director of Gender and Law at Durham (GLAD).

Andy's office number in the Law School is PCL144 located on the first floor of the Palatine Centre opposite the Moot Court.

• Domestic and Comparative Family Law
• Family Property
• Legal History
• Trusts and Equity

Book review

• Hayward, A. (in press). Book Review: The Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships: Emerging Families in Ireland and Beyond by Brian Tobin (Hart Publishing 2023). Child and family law quarterly, 36(2), 181-184
• Hayward, A. (online). Review of Quiet Revolutionaries: The Married Women’s Association and Family Law, by Sharon Thompson (Hart Publishing, 2022). Financial Remedies Journal,
• Hayward, A. (2021). Review of Principles of European Family Law Regarding Property, Maintenance and Succession Rights of Couples in de facto Unions, edited by Katharina Boele-Woelki, Frédérique Ferrand, Cristina González Beilfuss, Maarit Jänterä-Jareborg, Nigel Lowe, Dieter Martiny and Velina Todorova. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 35(1), Article ebaa014. https://doi.org/10.1093/lawfam/ebaa014
• Hayward, A. (2016). Prenuptial agreements and the presumption of free choice : issues of power in theory and practice. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 38(4), 480-482. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2016.1239600
• Hayward, A. (2015). Review of Marriage Rites and Rights by Joanna Miles, Perveez Mody and Rebecca Probert. Australian Journal of Family Law, 29(3), 252-255
• Hayward, A. (2013). The Changing Legal Regulation of Cohabitation: From Fornicators to Family, 1600–2010. By Rebecca Probert. [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2012. 287 pp. ISBN 978-1-107-02084-9.]. Cambridge Law Journal, 72(3), 794-796. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008197313000901
• Hayward, A. (2012). Review of Marital Agreements and Private Autonomy in Comparative Perspective by Jens M Scherpe. Australian Journal of Family Law, 26, 174-176
• Hayward, A. (2010). Review of Sharing Lives, Dividing Assets: An Inter-Disciplinary Study by Joanna Miles and Rebecca Probert. Child and family law quarterly, 22(3), 371-375

Chapter in book

• Hayward, A. Cohabitation Reform in England and Wales: Time for Action. In C. Bendall, & R. Parveen (Eds.), Family Law Reform Now: Proposals and Critique. Hart Publishing
• Hayward, A. (in press). 'Cohabitation and the Masterplot of Choice. In C. Bevan, & D. Gurnham (Eds.), Law, Narrative and Masterplot: New Research Perspectives. Routledge
• Hayward, A. (2024). Burns v Burns: The Fable Forty Years On. In M. Briggs, & A. Hayward (Eds.), Research Handbook on Family Property and the Law (441–460). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802204681.00039
• Hayward, A. (2024). Mixed-Sex Civil Partnerships: A Blank Canvas or Painting by Numbers?. In R. Probert, & S. Thompson (Eds.), Research Handbook on Marriage, Cohabitation and the Law (237-255). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802202656.00024
• Fenwick, H., & Hayward, A. (2023). The Intrinsic Value of Registered Partnerships and Marriage for Same-sex Couples, their Recognition Domestically and at the Strasbourg Court. In P. Behrens, & S. Becker (Eds.), Justice After Stonewall: LGBT Life between Challenge and Change. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003286295-13
• Hayward, A. (2022). Reforming Cohabitation Law in England and Wales. In C. Declerck, & S. Mosselmans (Eds.), Patrimonium 2022
• Hayward, A. (2022). John Eekelaar's Contribution to Family Property: Reflections on 'A Woman's Place - A Conflict between Law and Social Values. In J. Scherpe, & S. Gilmore (Eds.), Family Matters: Essays in Honour of John Eekelaar. Intersentia
• Hayward, A. (2022). New Models of Registered Partnership Reform: Embracing Family Recognition beyond Marriage?. In M. Breger (Ed.), Exploring Norms And Family Laws Across The Globe (35-52). Lexington Publishers
• Hayward, A. (2020). Relationships between Adults: Marriage, Civil Partnerships and Cohabitation. In R. Lamont (Ed.), Family Law (20-65). Oxford University Press
• Hayward, A. (2020). Relationships with Status: Civil Partnership in an Era of Same-Sex Marriage. In F. Hamilton, & G. Noto La Diega (Eds.), Same-Sex Relationships, Law and Social Change (189-208). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429021589
• Hayward, A. (2019). Legal Relationships between Adults and Children in England and Wales. In J. Sosson, G. Willems, & G. Motte (Eds.), Adults and Children in Postmodern Societies (219-248). Intersentia
• Hayward, A. (2018). The Married Women's Property Act 1882. In R. Auchmuty, & E. Rackley (Eds.), Women's Legal Landmarks: Celebrating 100 Years of Women and Law in the UK and Ireland (71-76). Hart Publishing
• Hayward, A. (2017). The Future of Civil Partnerships in England and Wales. In J. Scherpe, & A. Hayward (Eds.), The Future of Registered Partnerships - Family Recognition beyond Marriage? (527-559). Intersentia
• Hayward, A. (2017). Registered Partnerships in England and Wales. In J. Scherpe, & A. Hayward (Eds.), The Future of Registered Partnerships - Family Recognition beyond Marriage? (187-224). Intersentia
• Hayward, A. (2017). 'Family Property' and the Process of Familialisation of Property Law. In R. Leckey (Ed.), Marital Rights (265-287). Ashgate Publishing
• Hayward, A. (2013). Finding a Home for 'Family Property': Stack v Dowden & Jones v Kernott. In N. Gravells (Ed.), Landmark Cases in Land Law (229-252). Hart Publishing
• Hayward, A. (2012). ‘The ‘Context’ of Home: Cohabitation and Ownership Disputes in England and Wales’. In M. Diamond, & T. Turnipseed (Eds.), Community, Home and Identity (179-206). Ashgate Publishing

Conference Paper

• Hayward, A. (2021, December). Mixed-Sex Civil Partnerships: Two Years On. Paper presented at Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference, Durham University, UK
• Hayward, A. (2013, December). Half a Century of Morals and Marriage - Fifty Years Ahead of its Time or Two Hundred Years Out of Date? - A Response. Paper presented at Lord Devlin Golden Jubilee Lecture, Centre for Catholic Studies, Durham
• Hayward, A., & Fenwick, H. (2019, December). Conflicts Between Free Expression, Freedom of Religion and Avoidance of Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation within the ECHR Framework. Paper presented at The Future of Freedom of Speech and Religion after Israel Folau, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
• Hayward, A. (2020, December). The Wild and Ridiculous Doctrine of Equality - Matrimonial Property and the Legacy of the Married Women's Property Act 1882. Paper presented at Reader's Lecture, Inner Temple, London, UK
• Hayward, A. (2018, December). Equal Civil Partnerships and the Construction of the Cohabitant. Paper presented at Workshop on Frontier Research in Children's Rights and Family Law, University College Cork, Ireland
• Hayward, A. (2016, December). Cohabitation Disputes and the Reimagining of Proprietary Estoppel. Paper presented at Association of Law, Property and Society, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast
• Hayward, A., & Fenwick, H. (2017, December). Reforming Civil Partnerships in England and Wales: Reflections on Steinfeld. Paper presented at International Society of Family Lawyers World Conference, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Hayward, A. (2019, December). Relationships with Status: Introducing Equal Civil Partnerships in England and Wales
• Hayward, A. (2019, December). Cohabitation and the Property Consequences of Relationship Breakdown in England and Wales. Paper presented at Cohabitation Law Reform: Setting the Agenda, University of Glasgow, Scotland
• Hayward, A. (2021, December). Deploying Human Rights Arguments to Protect Cohabitants. Paper presented at Law and Society Association Annual Conference, Chicago
• Hayward, A. (2021, December). Protecting Cohabiting Couples upon Relationship Breakdown. Paper presented at Family Law Reform Now, University of Birmingham, UK
• Hayward, A. (2010, December). Uncovering the Identity of the Family Home: Recent Trends in Ownership Disputes over the Family Home in England and Wales. Paper presented at Association of Law, Property and Society, Georgetown Law School, Washington DC, USA
• Hayward, A. (2018, December). Equal Civil Partnerships and their Impact on Cohabitation Reform. Paper presented at Changing Family Forms, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Hayward, A. (2010, December). Contextualising Home: The Devil's in the Detail. Paper presented at Modern Studies in Property Law, University of Oxford
• Hayward, A. (2014, December). Achieving Social Justice in Ownership Disputes over the Family Home: The Case for Structured Discretion. Paper presented at Newcastle Forum for Human Rights and Social Justice Seminar Series, Newcastle Law School
• Hayward, A. (2013, December). The Process and Potential of Familialisation of Property Law. Paper presented at Trusts of the Family Home and the Frontiers of Family Property: Domestic and Comparative Perspectives, Modern Law Review Seminar Series, Durham Law School
• Hayward, A. (2015, December). Towards a Concept of Family Property in England and Wales. Paper presented at Centre for Private Law Seminar Series, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

Doctoral Thesis

• Hayward, A. Judicial Discretion in Ownership Disputes over the Family Home. (Thesis). Durham University: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/8489/. https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1647345

Edited book

• Scherpe, J., & Hayward, A. (Eds.). (in press). De Facto Relationships: A Comparative Guide. Edward Elgar Publishing
• Briggs, M., & Hayward, A. (Eds.). (in press). Research Handbook on Family Property and the Law. Edward Elgar Publishing
• Scherpe, J., & Hayward, A. (Eds.). (2017). The Future of Registered Partnerships - Family Recognition beyond Marriage?. Intersentia. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781780686325

Journal Article

• Hayward, A. (2021). Mixed-Sex Civil Partnerships and Relationality: A Perspective from Law. Families, Relationships and Societies, 10(1), 205-210. https://doi.org/10.1332/204674320x16062294691475
• Hayward, A. (2019). The Steinfeld Effect: Equal Civil Partnerships and the Construction of the Cohabitant. Child and family law quarterly, 31(4), 283-302
• Hayward, A. (2019). Equal Civil Partnerships, Discrimination and the Indulgence of Time: R (on the application of Steinfeld and Keidan) v Secretary of State for International Development. Modern Law Review, 82(5), 922-935. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12437
• Hayward, A. (2019). Taking the Time to Discriminate - R (on the application of Steinfeld and Keidan) v Secretary of State for International Development. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 41(1), 92-95. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2019.1554795
• Fenwick, H., & Hayward, A. (2018). From same-sex marriage to equal civil partnerships: on a path towards ‘perfecting’ equality?. Child and family law quarterly, 30(2), 97-120
• Fenwick, H., & Hayward, A. (2017). Rejecting Asymmetry of Access to Formal Relationship Statuses for Same and Different-Sex Couples at Strasbourg and Domestically. European Human Rights Law Review, 2017(6), 544-563
• Hayward, A. (2017). Justifiable Discrimination - The Case of Opposite-Sex Civil Partnerships. Cambridge Law Journal, 76(2), 243-246. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008197317000502
• Hayward, A. (2016). Common Intention Constructive Trusts and the Role of Imputation in Theory and Practice. Conveyancer and Property Lawyer, 80(3), 233-242
• Hayward, A. (2016). Same-sex Registered Partnerships - A Right to be Recognised?. Cambridge Law Journal, 75(01), 27-30. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008197316000179
• Hayward, A. (2015). Cohabitants, detriment and the potential of proprietary estoppel: Southwell v Blackburn [2014] EWCA Civ 1347. Child and family law quarterly, 27(3), 303-320
• Hayward, A. (2012). 'Family Property' and the Process of Familialisation of Property Law. Child and family law quarterly, 24(3), 284-303
• Hayward, A. (2009). Family Values in the Home: Fowler v Barron. Child and family law quarterly, 21(2), 242-256

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• Hayward, A. (in press). Migration and legal family formats in the UK: England and Wales. [Data]
• Hayward, A. (in press). Death and legal family formats in the UK: England and Wales. [Data]
• Hayward, A. (in press). Income, troubles and legal family formats in the UK: England and Wales. [Data]
• Bendall, C., & Hayward, A. (2024). Cohabitation Reform Under the New Labour Government: Moving From a ‘Whether’ to a ‘What’?. [Financial Remedies Journal]
• Hayward, A. (2023). Cohabitation and Labour's Commitment to Changing the Law: What Reform Might Look Like
• Hayward, A. (2023). Maymulakhin and Markiv v Ukraine: A Case of Love Conquering All?
• Hayward, A., Cullen, M., Sloan, W., & Allum, M. (2023). Cohabitation Rights in England and Wales, Scotland and Australia
• Fraser, G., & Hayward, A. (2023). Securing cohabitation reform: building a movement and why collaboration matters
• Hayward, A. (2023). Cohabitation: it’s time to take legal reform seriously
• Hayward, A. (2022). Evaluating the Government’s Response to the Women and Equalities Committee Rights of Cohabiting Partners Inquiry
• Hayward, A. (2022). Where Next for Cohabitation Reform in England and Wales?
• Fenwick, H., & Hayward, A. (2017). Equal Civil Partnerships: Implications of Strasbourg’s latest ruling for Steinfeld and Keidan
• Hayward, A. (2014). Conscious Uncoupling and the Sanitisation of Divorce
• Hayward, A. (2010). The Fairness in Enforcing a Broken Promise: Radmacher v Granatino and Prenuptial Agreements
• Hayward, A. (2010). The Gender Dimension of Prenuptial Agreements: Radmacher v Granatino
• Hayward, A. (2009). Cohabitation in England and Wales: Lessons from Ireland?

Presentation

• Hayward, A. (2014, December). Judicial Discretion in Ownership Disputes over the Family Home. Paper presented at Association of Law, Property and Society, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
• Hayward, A. (2016, December). Alternative Family Forms in England and Wales. Paper presented at Il diritto di famiglia tra modelli tradizionali e nuove declinazioni: Esperienze a confronto, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy
• Hayward, A. (2008, December). Trusts of the Family Home: Legislative Intervention or Judicial Innovation?
• Hayward, A. (2015, December). The Future of Civil Partnerships. Paper presented at The Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference, York Law School, United Kingdom
• Hayward, A. (2021, December). ‘Wedded to Property’: How Property influences Understandings of Marriage. Paper presented at A Sacred Covenant, Northumbria University
• Hayward, A. (2018, December). The Relationship between Equal Civil Partnerships and Cohabitation Reform. Paper presented at Resolution Seminar, London
• Hayward, A. (2017, December). Which Relationships? Which Legal Forms? The Protection of the Parent-Child Relationship in England and Wales. Paper presented at Procreating, Fostering and Passing on: Adults and Children in Post-Modern Societies, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium