A Lesbian couple are involved in a custody battle over twin girls that were conceived when one of the women donated her eggs to the other. The twin girls are now 5 years old and live with the birth mother after the couple separated in 2012. At Portsmouth County Court last August, Judge Helen Black,…
New laws have been passed which will enable adopters to take parental leave just like biological parents The Children and Families Act, which received Royal Assent last week, will enable people who adopt children to share parental leave with their partners just like biological parents from April 2015. Â Adopters will also be entitled to adoption…
A former jockey and racehorse trainer has been banned from seeing her daughter for three years after she falsely accused her partner of being a paedophile during a bitter custody battle During the initial custody hearing in August 2011, Vicky Haigh, 43, claimed that her ex-partner and father of the child, Mr Tune, had abused…
Children who are removed from their parents under secret court judgments must be given access to the court’s decision when they are adults, the most senior family judge says Sir James Munby, the President of the Family Division, has made significant changes to the family court system in a bid to improve the transparency and…
The new Children and Families Bill was given Royal Assent on the 13th March 2014. By Chereece Mark. The new Bill aims to: Protect vulnerable children Provide better support for children whose parents are separating, Put in place a new system to help children with special educational needs and disabilities, Provide help for parents to…
The government has announced that more children are living with both birth parents. The new figures show that 69 percent of children lived with both their mother and father in 2012. This is a 2 percent rise from the year before. The figures feature in the Social Justice Outcomes Framework: Family Stability Indicator, a report…
The welfare minister Lord Freud has stated that family breakdown in Britain could cost the taxpayer £46bn. In an article for The Telegraph the welfare minister stated that the government had a ‘clear duty’ to strengthen families. He also emphasised the importance of marriage, stating that matrimony should be ‘put back in its rightful place’…
Parents are choosing to go to court to settle private child matters rather than using mediation, a new report suggests. The new figures have been released after lawyersupportedmediation.com made a Freedom of Information request. The data gave an insight into the utilisation of court services since the legal aid cuts in family law were introduced…
According to new research from the Family and Childcare Trust, part-time childcare costs for a family with two children have overtaken the average UK mortgage bill by 4.7 per cent By Chereece Mark The cost for one child in part-time nursery care and one in an after school club is now £7,549 a year. This…
A couple who entered into an informal surrogacy agreement with a friend have found themselves in court. A woman who was unable to have children agreed with a friend to use her husband’s sperm to artificially inseminate her friend at home. It was agreed that the friend would then give the child to the couple…