Getting More Child Support

The Child Support Agency was originally created to get money out of parents who were either not paying anything, or enough for the maintenance of their children.  To correct this, the Child Support Agency (or C-MEC as it is now …

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COMMENT

Suspended Residence Orders

One of the most difficult type of cases for the family court to deal with effectively is the contact dispute in which one parent is refusing, unjustifiably to allow the children to see the other parent. By definition of course …

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COMMENT

The Use of Children’s Guardians in Disputes Involving a Child’s Contact with a Parent

The family courts are familiar with cases within which children who come from split families are the subject of disputes between the parents in respect of how much contact the children should have with the non resident parent. Most cases …

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COMMENT

Unmarried Couples and Children

Any cohabiting couple needs to be aware that if they intend to have children and are not married, only the mother will automatically have parental responsibility.

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COMMENT

Local Authorities Fined for Not Protecting Information regarding Children

The Information Commissioners Office has fined two Councils for failing to keep very sensitive information about the welfare of children secure. Fines totalling £180,000 were imposed against Croydon Council and Norfolk County Council. These fines illustrate the consequences for failing …

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COMMENT

Clare’s Law : Domestic Violence Update

People in some parts of England and Wales will soon be able to find out from the police if their partner has a history of domestic violence, under  ‘Clare’s Law’, so named after Clare Wood who died in 2009 at …

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COMMENT

Losing My Religion

How do courts deal with parents who each want their child to be brought up following their own different and opposing religious beliefs? In a recent case the High Court dealt with a case involving a mother who was a …

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COMMENT

Children Taken into Care

Local Authorities made more than 900 court applications in January 2012 alone, the highest number ever recorded. This was in comparison with 698 in January 2011. This according to CAFCASS, the Agency which appoints specialist independent Social Workers as Guardians …

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COMMENT

Children in Divorce

With one in five children losing contact with a parent following divorce, Mark Smith asks who is ultimately responsible… Can you imagine never hearing from or seeing one of your parents again? It sounds like a heart-wrenching prospect doesn’t it? …

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COMMENT

Forcing fathers to sign birth certificates

Parents who have Parental Responsibility for a child have what is described in the Children Act as “all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which, by Law, the parent of a child has in relation to the child and …

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COMMENT