Dealing with matters relating to your children following the breakdown of a relationship can be stressful. At HPLP, our expert child law solicitors in London offer the advice and representation you need to ensure you have the right arrangements in place for your family.
We will work with you to establish what is most important to you and take the steps needed to secure the best possible outcome. We always try to resolve matters out of court and with minimal conflict. This could include using alternative methods of dispute resolution such as mediation if negotiation is not successful.
If necessary, we will take your case to court. We know that this may seem daunting and we will provide you with guidance and support throughout, ensuring that you are represented by an expert child law advocate.
We understand that this is likely to be a difficult time for you and your children and you will find our children law solicitors to be sensitive and sympathetic. We will make sure that we are available to speak to you throughout your case, to talk through any concerns and answer your questions as needed.
Speak to our child law solicitors in London today
Contact our expert children law solicitors in London for child law advice now by calling 03300250176 or use the contact form for a prompt response.
How our child law solicitors can help you
Adoption
If you are adding to your family by adopting a child, our specialist adoption solicitors can ensure that the process goes smoothly and that you have the adoption order you need to become your child’s legal parents.
Having an adoption order will also ensure that you have parental responsibility for your child. This refers to the rights and duties a parent has in respect of their child, including issues such as providing a home, day-to-day care, choosing how they will be educated, deciding whether they will follow a religion and agreeing to medical treatment.
We deal with adoptions through adoption agencies as well as adoptions by family members.
Care proceedings
If social services are involved with your family and there is a risk of your child being taken into care, you need expert advice and guidance from specialist care proceedings solicitors. Our team members have the experience to provide you with robust representation.
We will explain your rights to you and ensure that the correct procedure is followed when the authorities deal with you and your family.
We offer immediate legal assistance, stepping in to provide you with advice, dealing with the local authority on your behalf and ensuring that you have a clear explanation as to what will happen next.
Our care proceedings lawyers deal with a full range of legal actions relating to children, including applications for care orders, supervision orders, emergency protection orders and deprivation of liberty orders.
If you have been notified that you may face court proceedings, call us today and we will step in straightaway to assist you and provide you with the child law advice you need.
Child arrangements order
If you and your child’s other parent have separated, a child arrangements order can give you and your family the stability of having a set schedule.
A child arrangements order will generally include details of where a child will live, how long they will spend with each parent and how they will stay in touch when they are not with a parent, for example, whether there will be phone calls, texts or emails.
The arrangements can be tailored to your needs and the way in which you want to handle matters, for example, including information about holidays as well as usual weekly routines.
We will represent you in negotiating the details with the solicitor for your child’s other parent, with the aim of agreeing on these out of court. If you are not able to reach an agreement, then by law, you will have to at least consider mediation unless there has been domestic violence.
We can explain the mediation process to you and if you attend and are able to agree on arrangements, we can ask the court to seal them, making a binding child arrangements order.
If an agreement cannot be reached, then we can apply to the court for a decision. The court will usually ask the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) to meet with you, your child and your child’s other parent and prepare a report. This will be used to assist the court in making its decision.
Child maintenance
The parent who does not have the main daily care of a child will normally pay child maintenance to the other parent. We can negotiate with the solicitors for your child’s other parent to try and agree on payments as part of the general process of separation.
If necessary, the Child Maintenance Service can be asked to deal with payments if the other parent will not agree on a sum or if they fail to make the payments as required.
Child residence and contact
The terms child residence and child contact are not generally used now in an attempt to make child arrangements less acrimonious. There is no general presumption that a child will live with their mother. Instead, the court will look at the welfare checklist contained in the Children Act when deciding on child arrangements and will always aim to prioritise a child’s best interests.
One of the criteria on the checklist is to consider what the effect of changes will be on the child. If one parent has dealt with most of the childcare to date, the court may decide that this should continue and that the child should live with that parent.
Other criteria on the welfare checklist include:
- The child’s wishes and feelings, in the light of their age and understanding
- Their physical, emotional and educational needs
- Their age, sex, background and any other relevant characteristics
- Any harm they have suffered or are at risk of suffering
- How capable each parent is of meeting the child’s needs
Parental alienation
Parental alienation refers to the situation where one parent is unjustifiably negative about the other parent in front of their child. Over time, this can cause the child to turn against the other parent.
However, in some cases, parental alienation is alleged in circumstances where it does not exist in an attempt to persuade the courts to cut a child’s ties with a parent. The child may have justifiable negative feelings about a parent, for example, if the parent is abusive.
It is a complex subject and if you are dealing with parental alienation or allegations against you, you need children law solicitors with expertise in this area.
Our team members have dealt with both parental alienation and false allegations of parental alienation. We can advise you of the best course of action and provide you with expert representation.
Prohibited steps order
A prohibited steps order is a type of injunction. It prevents a parent from carrying out a particular activity relating to a child. Examples of situations where a prohibited steps order might be made include to prevent a child from being removed from school or to stop them from being taken overseas.
If your child is at immediate risk of harm, we can apply for an emergency prohibited steps order on your behalf.
We also defend applications for prohibited steps orders for parents who oppose the need for an injunction.
Specific issue orders
A specific issue order can be requested from the courts if you and your child’s other parent are unable to agree on a particular matter. Examples of disputes that can result in a specific issue order include disagreements over where a child should go to school, what religion they should follow and whether they should have a particular medical treatment.
Further information
For more information on our related services, see our family law pages:
Speak to our child law solicitors in London today
Contact our expert children law solicitors in London for child law advice now by calling 03300250176 or use the contact form for a prompt response.