Children in Law - The web site of Jacqui Gilliatt
Don’t they? Are you sure? Are you sure you are not influencing the situation?Parents often feel that because they are not telling the child not to go then they are not exercising any influence. But your child picks up on what you say, what you don’t say and the expression on your face when you…
DetailsYou may be asking your lawyer for advice and feel that they are just not getting you. Of course, you might be right! But what a lawyer always has to do is to imagine what the court will make of the situation. And they also have to test out what you are saying and this…
DetailsYou can always ask! However, in UK family law the court has no power to force the local authority to change the social worker. Think about why you are not getting along. Social workers have a very difficult job to do – and they have to say some unpleasant things to parents. Will it really…
DetailsYou may be convinced that the social worker is lying. But think very carefully about that word. It is complicated. Someone may say something that is not true and so on one level they are lying ie not telling the truth. But are they deliberately trying to deceive? Just like you they ar often reporting…
DetailsApart from the carbon footprint issues about international travel it brings with it a number of family law issues. A common question is whether or not UK family law recognises a foreign marriage. Generally speaking the answer is that if the marriage was legal in the country where it took place it will be recognised…
DetailsThe BBC reports the tragic death of a toddler who drowned in a swimming pool at the home of her foster carers in Hampshire. An inquiry is already underway as to how this death happened but detailed facts are not yet known. I can anticipate heavy criticism of the local authority for failing in their…
DetailsAs if deliberately to undermine my point yesterday about pools versus guns, in today’s Times is a report of a Manchester mother appearing in court charged with posssessing a pistol after her 12 year old daughter was shot dead at her home in April. A 17 year old boy is charged with the girl’s murder.…
DetailsRecent research by a team of psychologists led by Dr Kristin Heffernan has found that mother certainly doesn’t think she knows best. Present day mothers apparently trust “expert” medical advice more than their own instincts. They might be comforted to read what Levitt & Dubner say in Freakonomics about what makes the perfect parent (see…
DetailsSo what are the ideas which the system’s critics are coming up with? I am going to start to collect them up here and then comment on them in detail in separate posts. I would love to hear of any others but here are a few I have found:* Media access to all family courts;*…
DetailsThis is the first in a series of posts about parental responsibility. Who Has Parental Responsibility in UK family law? The mother of a child always has parental responsibility. This can only be removed if a child is adopted or placed for adoption under a a placement order. The married father of a child has…
DetailsYes: for example – Parents who are married both have parental responsibility. A local authority is given parental responsibility when a care order is made but the mother (and maybe the father) will continue to have parental responsibility along with the local authority. The local authority will be in the driving seat, however, and can…
DetailsParental responsibility is defined in the Children Act 1989 as ‘all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property’. Cases decided by the courts have given us some idea of what this means. • making choices about a child’s…
DetailsParental responsibility only lasts as a legal concept until the child is 18 or if the child marries between 16 & 18, on marriage or until an adoption order is made. A mother will always have parental responsibility until the child is 18 unless an adoption order is made. A married father is in the…
DetailsIn any decisions about what is right for a child, the welfare of the child is paramount. The court must consider the ‘welfare checklist’. It must consider:- • the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child in light of his age and understanding; • the physical, emotional and educational needs; • the likely effect on…
DetailsHere is what the Judges have said in favour of parental responsibility:Lord Justice Balcombe (in Re G (A Minor) (Parental Responsibility Order) 1994 1 FLR 504): “The purpose of a parental responsibility order is to give the unmarried father a ‘locus standi’ in the child’s life by conferring on him the rights which would have…
DetailsIn UK family law, generally speaking an individual person with parental responsibility can make decisions about the child on their own, if need be. In fact, there are also many decisions which may be made by someone who is simply looking after a child. The Children Act 1989 says that any person who has care…
DetailsNever turn up at the arranged time for contact Never bring your child back on time from contact Refuse to agree a regular contact regime because you just want contact whenever you want contact Give your child a drastic haircut or dye the child’s hair a funny colour without telling them Get the child’s ears…
DetailsThis question is best answered by giving a few example of situations in which parents trying to share parental responsibility do not agree about the way a child should be brought up.In most cases, the court can be asked to make a decision when parents cannot agree. In most cases, the court will give very…
DetailsI have been reading with growing alarm about the case of Fran Lyons and in the press (see this Daily Mail article . I have to say I rarely like to get drawn into this sort of debate as usually you can only hear one half of the story. But the half that I have heard…
DetailsI am reeling with shock at the conduct of Bruce Hyman who has been sent to prison for twelve months for planting a fake judgment on his opponent father in a contact case. A vox pop of my colleagues suggests that he got off quite likely as most of us would have given him two…
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