Child Focused Courts: What The New Model Means For Parents

Child Focused Courts are changing the way private children cases are managed in England and Wales. Formerly known as the Private Law Pathfinder, the model is intended to help the Family Court understand a child’s circumstances, welfare needs and safety earlier in the process. For parents, the central message is straightforward: the court is seeking […]

Co-parenting apps can offer one organised place for child-related messages, calendars and practical information. Separated parents often need to manage school events, handovers, holidays, health appointments, activities and day-to-day changes for their children. Where communication is difficult, these routine matters can quickly become stressful. Co-parenting apps will not resolve a disagreement about child arrangements, and […]

The Caring Dads programme is a structured, child-centred intervention for fathers whose behaviour has harmed, or may have placed at risk, their children or the children’s mother. It is not a general parenting course, and it is not a route to automatic child contact. Its purpose is to help fathers understand the impact of abusive, […]

The Ministry of Justice has consulted on some of the most substantial proposed family law reforms to family financial law in recent decades. The consultation, A fairer end to relationships, considered how the law deals with finances when a marriage, civil partnership or cohabiting relationship ends, and when an unmarried partner dies without a will. […]

The Caring Dads programme is a structured, child-centred intervention for fathers whose behaviour has harmed, or may have placed at risk, their children or the children’s mother. It is not a general parenting course, and it is not a route to automatic child contact. Its purpose is to help fathers understand the impact of abusive, […]

Child inclusive mediation gives children and young people an opportunity, where appropriate, to share their views with a specially trained mediator. It does not mean that a child has to choose between their parents or take responsibility for the final arrangements. Instead, it is a structured and child-focused way for their perspective to be heard and […]

Drug test contamination in child custody cases means a test shows positive because of environmental exposure, laboratory error, or a sample mix-up rather than actual drug use, and that can lead to false positives being treated as proof against a parent. For parents in family court, the lawyers advising them, and anyone trying to understand […]