My brother has a call with Cafcass next week? His ex wife had an affair and took off with the kids suddenly a few months ago. They had been separated for 6 months and up until that point he'd been paying child support and seeing the kids every other weekend and mid week for a few hours. Everything had been going fine and she had suggested they increase the frequency of times he has the kids which he was happy to do so. Then she disappeared with the kids overnight, moved away to where the new boyfriend lives (2 hours away) moved the kids out of school, moved home, and cut ties with everyone, blocked everyone on her phone & social media. Kids haven't seen their dad or my family, grandparents or school friends since. 8 months ago she accused him of DV and he was given bail pending an investigation. Bail has been renewed twice now and no charges made & my brother hasnt had any contact with ex since May last year - all arrangements with kids were via a 3rd party (as set out in bail conditions). I don't believe any of her allegations, and expect it to be eventually dropped. But I don't want to get into an argument on here about that, there's a whole rabbit hole I could go down which would be a thread in itself. My brother just wants to have contact with his kids again. He also has concerns about the kids which he submitted when he applied for the court arrangement order. Given the circumstances there's no initial mediation. What can he expect in the first Cafcass call? How should he prepare? He's been given a court hearing date in a few weeks time.