Posts Tagged ‘Parental Risk’
Courts and Tribunals Bill Removes the Presumption That Parental Contact Serves Children’s Welfare
Child Focused Courts Roll Out Nationally
The government confirmed on 17 March 2026 that Child Focused Courts — formerly known as Pathfinder Courts — will be expanded across the entirety of England and Wales, following a trial period that saw family court backlogs halve and cases resolved up to seven and a half months faster. Read more
Read MoreParliamentary Committee Debates the End of the Parental Involvement Presumption
The Courts and Tribunals Bill, introduced to the House of Commons on 25 February 2026, includes Clause 17, which would remove the presumption of parental involvement from section 1(2A) of the Children Act 1989 — the provision that currently requires family courts to presume that involvement of both parents “will further the child’s welfare”. Read more
Read MoreSupreme Court Rejects Bid to Revoke Adoption of Sisters
The Teenager Who Took On the Family Courts and Won
Parallel Family and Criminal Proceedings
In Re C (Born August 2022) [2026] EWFC 74 (B), Deputy District Judge Nahal-Macdonald, sitting at Bromley, raised concerns about the confusion created when the same allegations of domestic abuse and coercive control are being dealt with simultaneously in family and criminal proceedings, which apply different standards of proof. Read more
Read MoreCourt of Appeal Guidance on Challenging Expert Qualifications
In H (Children: Expertise of Witness) [2026] EWCA Civ 249, the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal brought by a mother over care orders concerning her three children, in a case where the jointly instructed expert psychologist Graham Flatman was alleged to have acted outside the limits of his expertise. Read more
Read MoreWhat the Modern Approach Means in Practice
President of Family Division Resets the Framework for Expert Evidence
In Re Y (Experts and Alienating Behaviour: The Modern Approach) [2026] EWFC 38, the President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane revisited a 2019 case in which a mother had been found to have alienated her children from their father, with the children subsequently removed from her care. Read more
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