Today’s Family Lawyer reports that family court delays see children waiting a year to finalise living arrangements LINK

This is based on new data supplied by the Ministry of Justice and shows an upward trend since 2016.

This is not news to our members who regularly report delays of much more than one year. What’s more the number of cases where neither party was represented was 40%, an increase of 300% since legal aid was cut in 2013. These delays simply cements into place the existing living arrangements for the child and provides an opportunity for unprincipled parents to alienate their children against the non-resident parent.

These court delays are a form of child abuse infrequently considered in CAFCASS reports.  Court delay and contact refusal by the residential parents for no good reason is against the welfare of our children, and serves to exhaust the capacity, mentally and financially, of the other party to continue. It is the courts and CAFCASS who are the main culprits. 

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