Child Law Solicitors
Guiding you through all aspects of children's law
As child law specialists, we understand that making arrangements for your children can be emotional and challenging, but it is also essential to their wellbeing. We apply our expertise in all areas of private children's law from that position of strength and insight, guiding our clients with the understanding that the focus must be on the interests of the children at all times.
Our ability to look ahead and develop successful and proportionate strategies enables us to consistently achieve positive outcomes, allowing children to maintain healthy relationships with their parents, siblings, and wider family.
All too often, we see parents viewing the issues for their children through the wrong end of the telescope, focusing on fairness among parents or what they want to achieve for their children. We do not shy away from giving our clients the best, most realistic, and sometimes the most difficult advice to steer parents onto the right path by looking at matters through the eyes of their children, as a Court would.
We have found that there is often a particular lack of understanding about the rights of fathers regarding their children, and we frequently spend time with our clients dispelling various myths and misunderstandings about the rights and responsibilities fathers have for their children.
Request legal advice on children's law
Why choose our children's lawyers?
Our child lawyers are all members of Resolution. Our team are also ranked by the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners.
Our lead child law specialist has particular expertise in complex cases including child protection, international adoption, parental alienation, and serious injury cases involving allegations of inflicted injuries or serious harm, fabricated or induced illness allegations, sexual abuse cases including complex inter-sibling situations, cases involving child death or serious injury, and cases where one parent has been murdered by the other.
We also handle complex family disputes involving implacable hostility cases, cases with conflicting medical evidence, deprivation of liberty applications, cross-border custody disputes, and applications to withhold disclosure of sensitive evidence.
These cases require not only legal expertise but also sensitivity, discretion, and the ability to work with expert witnesses, medical professionals, and other specialists.
Meet the children's law team
Philip Barnsley
Partner and Head of Family Law
Richard Westley
Legal Director - Family Law
Rhian Gray
Partner - Family Law
Karen Gray
Senior Associate - Family Law
Child arrangements orders
A child arrangements order – formerly known as child custody – is a complex, sensitive and emotive subject for everyone involved.
Our friendly, caring children's lawyers will work closely with you to help conclude your case as quickly and efficiently as possible. We listen: we will gather all the information relating to your specific case and will use our in-depth knowledge to advise you on the most appropriate course of action.
We will also review all your options, from the different types of custody to ensuring your child's best interests remain at the forefront, taking into account their specific needs.
Our child arrangements expertise includes:
- Residence disputes and living arrangements
- Contact arrangements and visiting schedules
- Specific issue orders covering school choice and medical decisions
- Prohibited steps orders, including preventing relocation
- Internal and international relocation applications
- Emergency protection applications
- Injunctions for communication restrictions and protection from abusive behaviour
Child maintenance
Child maintenance is calculated based upon your income, the number of nights per year your child stays with each parent, and any other children you are financially responsible for.
Maintenance can be a problematic issue, with some parents feeling aggrieved that they are expected to pay for children they are unable to see as much as they would like, or, conversely, with parents feeling hurt and angry that the paying parent is failing to fulfil their financial duty to their children.
Ultimately, children require adequate financial support to reach their full potential and have their needs met, which should not be approached in a transactional manner. Their needs must be met to the best of your financial abilities as parents, regardless of any dispute between them.
We can assist parents in resolving their disputes regarding financial support for their children, while also recognising the importance and relevance of the arrangements for them. We provide parents with realistic guidance and advice.
While time with their children cannot be bought or sold, separating the issue of maintenance from the issue of arrangements is an appropriate starting point to ensure that adult disputes do not unnecessarily impact the children.
Care proceedings
While we do not carry a legal aid franchise and therefore cannot offer our services on a legally aided basis, our experts still have significant experience. They can assist individuals who are either choosing to pay privately in public law proceedings or who are involved in public law proceedings but are not eligible for legal aid.
Our expertise in this area also means that we can recognise when the involvement of the Local Authority may become a reality in private law proceedings and advise our clients accordingly.
Our expertise across both disciplines assists our clients to understand the reasons why a Local Authority may become involved in their private law dispute, how this may impact upon them and their children, the appropriate way to engage with the Local Authority and what to expect from them, and what to expect throughout complex proceedings involving serious allegations.
We also assist with applications to withhold disclosure of sensitive evidence and expert witness instruction, as well as case preparation in these challenging circumstances.
International child law
Children's disputes involving parties from different countries require specialist knowledge of international family law. Our child law solicitors have extensive experience in cross-border cases and can act swiftly when children are at risk of international abduction.
Our child lawyers have particular experience in complex international cases, including high-conflict international relocation disputes.
- International child law services include:
- Child abduction prevention and recovery
- Hague Convention applications
- International and internal relocation disputes
- Cross-border custody enforcement
- Emergency Court applications and injunctions
- Applications for protective injunctions regarding abusive behaviour.
Special guardianship orders
When children are unable to live with their biological parents, there are opportunities for other relatives or individuals associated with the child who meet the qualifying criteria to apply for a Special Guardianship Order, which allows them to become legally responsible for the child.
We have significant experience in assisting individuals in making such applications to secure children's futures, and we can guide our clients through this often complex process.
If you are approved as a Special Guardian for a child, this means that not only do you acquire parental responsibility for them, but that your parental responsibility will, in most situations, override that of the parents.
Practically speaking, this means that you are then able to make decisions for the child even where their parents do not necessarily agree with your decision, such as the choice of school, medical treatment, or taking the child on holiday.
As part of the process of seeking this type of order, you will undergo a thorough assessment by the Local Authority to determine your suitability to care for the child and meet their overall needs. The Local Authority will then make a recommendation to the Court as to whether or not a Special Guardianship Order should be made in your favour.
We have a wealth of experience in advising clients not only on the practicalities of the process, but also in guiding them through it, addressing each step and explaining the implications for both our clients and the children they are seeking permanence for.
Adoption
An adoption order will give parental responsibility for a child to the adopter, who will, from that moment, be treated as though the child were born to them. It is perhaps the most significant order a Court can make in relation to a person.
Whether you are a step-parent seeking to permanently adopt your step-child, or someone who has decided to build a family by way of adoption (whether as a single person or as part of a couple), or perhaps you wish to become a parent of a child with whom you already have some connection, we can advise and guide you through the process involved in securing adoption orders for children.
Our child law specialists have extensive experience in complex adoption cases, including step-parent adoption, foster-to-adopt, and cases involving challenging circumstances or contested proceedings.
This process involves a rigorous and thorough assessment by a Local Authority, which will then make a recommendation to the Court as to whether an adoption order should be made for the child. There are many cases in which adoption can be the appropriate outcome for children who require permanence for their futures.
Surrogacy
Where children are born via surrogacy, it is crucial that the parents know and understand what they need to do to become the parents to that child legally.
That process begins even before your child is conceived, and so you must arm yourself with all of the information you need to understand what is required of you to formalise the legal arrangements for your future child from the word 'go'.
While this process may seem daunting, speaking with our team of specialists will give you a clear understanding of what needs to happen and when, so that you can feel confident navigating your pathway to parenthood.
- Comprehensive surrogacy legal services include:
- Pre-conception legal advice
- Parental order applications
- International surrogacy advice
- Immigration and nationality considerations
- Emergency applications for urgent matters
Understanding children's rights and key legal principles
- When the Court is considering any question concerning the upbringing of a child, that child's welfare is the Court's paramount consideration.
- Parental responsibility can only be brought to an end by a Court order.
- Children have the right to maintain relationships with both parents, where it is safe to do so.
- Children's wishes are considered according to their age and maturity.
How Courts make decisions regarding children
When deciding whether to make an order, the child's welfare will always be the Court's paramount concern. In each case, the Court will undertake a detailed review of what is in the child's best interests.
The Court will apply a checklist of factors including the wishes and feelings of the child, their physical, emotional and educational needs, the likely effect on the child of any change in circumstances, the child's age, sex, background and any other relevant characteristics, any harm that the child has suffered or is at risk of suffering, and how capable the adults involved are of meeting the child's needs, as well as the range of powers available to the Court to ensure that the child's needs are met.
