Family Law

This was one of the headlines on the BBC recently.

Whilst we do not take children cases which involve care proceedings, we do have experience dealing with Private Children matters such as Residence, Contact and other specific issues.  It is true to say the process can be very lengthy and, in particular, if CAFCASS (Children And Family Court Advisory and Support Service) has been ordered by the court to prepare a report. 

In some local courts, it can take CAFCASS 4-6 months to carry out their investigations and prepare a report, which means that the families involved may not be able to move forward.  It is fully appreciated that CAFCASS are under-resourced and it is certainly not a criticism of them, but the outcome is still negative for children and families alike. 

The position also appears to mean that in some cases the District Judges will simply not order such a report as CAFCASS is not available, but this can also have negative consequences.  The reality of the situation is that if an Application has been made to the court to deal with a dispute between the parents, it usually means that one or both parents have significant concerns which should be addressed properly. 

Unfortunately, there does not appear to be an answer as CAFCASS is far too stretched, under-resourced and under-staffed and cannot cope with the number of cases, both private and care proceedings, which are being referred on to them.
 
Does our new Government have any solutions?

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