Solicitor in family courts (AMA)

[notdawn]

Solicitor in the family courts for 16 years before I have up 3 years ago to work with my husband full time.

AMA

Do you agree with most of the decisions made regarding the removal of Babies/children from their birth families into foster care/adoption?

Is there a bias towards mothers as the statistics imply?

@hippyhappyhoppyhuppy

Do you agree with most of the decisions made regarding the removal of Babies/children from their birth families into foster care/adoption?

Absolutely - by the time it gets to removal all reasonable avenues have been exhausted.

@jdoejnr1

Is there a bias towards mothers as the statistics imply?

I’m not sure I would use the word bias as it infers a negative suggestion.

There is no doubt courts prefer children to stay with the mothers - and unless there is good reason that will be the majority of decisions.

Im looking to get into family law, although I have 2 young children. What other jobs are there in the family law sector I could do which would be less time consuming with children? And what qualifications would I need? Also is there such thing as an apprenticeship in family law?

I apologise, thats a lot of questions.

There is no doubt courts prefer children to stay with the mothers - and unless there is good reason that will be the majority of decisions. Why is this? Purely hypothetically (I’m happily married!) but DH was at home with our DC when they were young while I worked FT. I was very involved, but obvs not there 24/7. Would courts generally still think they were best with me, all things being equal?

@diggadoo

How would one go about getting a father's parental rights revoked? If said father is a convicted child sex offender and has paid no maintenance and had no contact for 9 years

If it’s as clear cut as that - no court in the land would grant access.

@Learningtobehappier

Im looking to get into family law, although I have 2 young children. What other jobs are there in the family law sector I could do which would be less time consuming with children? And what qualifications would I need? Also is there such thing as an apprenticeship in family law?

I apologise, thats a lot of questions.

No apprenticeship - to be a family solicitor you need a law degree.

You could perhaps look into being a legal clerk.

@CrypticQueen

There is no doubt courts prefer children to stay with the mothers - and unless there is good reason that will be the majority of decisions. Why is this? Purely hypothetically (I’m happily married!) but DH was at home with our DC when they were young while I worked FT. I was very involved, but obvs not there 24/7. Would courts generally still think they were best with me, all things being equal?

Yes more often than not - unless there were special circumstances.

Even in 2020 stay at home fathers are rare and the highest earner still tends to be the man. Not to mention the perhaps more natural bond the mother has with the children.

Can you tell me what the likely outcome would be in a UK family court, if an eleven year old who lives with their mother, was refusing to see their father after the divorce had completed? If the father wanted to go to court and gain a child access arrangement, would the wishes of the child be taken into account? No history of abuse or coercion from the mother, or any other serious reason for the childs refusal, just their own preference to not be around their father any longer.
Thank you.

Thank you notdawn for answering my question, your answer is greatly reassuring.

I'm no contact with my parents due to abuse and neglect in childhood.

They are threatening taking me to family court to gain access to my DC.

I cannot prove that I was physically/sexually abused as nobody else witnessed it.

However, longstanding family friends have agreed that they would give evidence in court to say that they witnessed my parents being neglectful and that as a child I was exposed to a lot of inappropriate sexual behaviour due to my parents sex lives.

Said witnesses live in Canada, would there evidence be admissable if they are not based in the UK?

My husband has an eight year old with his ex.

My husband has his child 50% of the time (one week on, one week off), and sometimes more in the holidays (so more like 60% when you add the whole year up).

Despite this, his ex gets the child benefit and my husband has to pay maintenance to her? He has asked if he can pay less as he has the child more, but every time he does, his ex threatens to get a court order against him. So my husband always backs down and keeps paying. He's worried his access will be stopped if his ex does get a court order.

Any advice/ insights ?

Just to correct something mentioned earlier. You don’t have to have a Law degree to become a solicitor or indeed a barrister. If you have a degree, you can do a conversion course. DD is a family law barrister.

And yes, there are law apprenticeships. You should look for providers and see if you have the qualifications to apply. A lot of family law is about money. It’s not all about children.

If a 14 year refuses to see the nrp and the nrp takes the rp to court what is the likely outcome ?

How would you advise a father who made up allegations against the mother, so he could take over the role of the primary carer?

(I think my ex is doing this)

And do you receive training to spot abusive behaviour?

@notdawn, @diggadoo was asking about PR I suspect, but you replied referring to access, a term which hasn’t been used since the 1989 Act.

@Diggadoo, you could apply for PR to be revoked in those circumstances. It’s fairly unusual, but I’ve acted in several cases where the father posed a significant risk of physical and/or emotional harm to the child and the court found in the mother’s favour both to revoke PR and to order no contact and further that there be no application to vary by the father for at least 2 years.

How can members of the public properly identify and find out which family law lawyers are as competent and experienced as they claim? Before they are engaged at great cost. There seem to be no external review criteria beyond 1 sentence quotes in Chambers (which is more for use within the profession), and the complaints body (SRA) seem beyond incompetent if you ever need to make a formal complaint.

@Guymere

Just to correct something mentioned earlier. You don’t have to have a Law degree to become a solicitor or indeed a barrister. If you have a degree, you can do a conversion course. DD is a family law barrister.

And yes, there are law apprenticeships. You should look for providers and see if you have the qualifications to apply. A lot of family law is about money. It’s not all about children.

And in theory you don't need law degree to start the apprenticeship - you can do it during the apprenticeship. The apprenticeships are rare through and I don't know how common in family law.

@Spongedog all good family lawyers are members of Resolution (formerly the Solicitors Family Law Association. Just put your postcode into the search bar to find a local specialist.

[quote Mumblechum0]@Spongedog all good family lawyers are members of Resolution (formerly the Solicitors Family Law Association. Just put your postcode into the search bar to find a local specialist.[/quote]
Not 'all good family lawyers are members of Resolution'. It is too bold a statement and ignores all those who don't want to pay for membership (or can't afford to), and ignores the fact that Resolution has its fair share of crappy family lawyers enrolled.

The best way to find a good solicitor is to go by recommendation of someone you trust, or to speak to the solicitors directly and see whether you feel they understand your position and can empathise. They don't have to agree with you - that's not a lawyer's job - but that doesn't mean they should not be able to make you feel as though you are getting the best help for your situation even though you may not have a particularly good case.

I know absolutely nothing. I'm currently applying for a child arrangement order and I have a solicitor. It says cafcass will be speaking with me. What is their role? I just want something in place so my DC live with me and see their Dad at weekends, more in holidays. Will DH get a letter in the post to say it's been applied for? There hasn't been mediation it's gone straight to the application in this case.

@notdawn hi there.. Are you still taking questions.. I just wondered if I could ask you something based on my situation. Thank you.

What is the threshold for ordering a Cafcass section 7? If there is no abuse or anything at all out of the ordinary would this be requested. children currently live with mother see business man full time worker dad eow and once in the week and he wants to move to 50:50 but only after work for nights only no collecting from school and doing normal stuff.