Blog
Civil Fraud Quarterly Round-Up: Q4 2025
Mary Young
4 January 2024
Addiction and coparenting – how to arrange drug and alcohol testing in the context of childcare disputes and other legal proceedings involving children
Concerns surrounding a parent's substance abuse are a common safeguarding issue raised in children proceedings before the family court. Understandably, all involved in decisions as to the arrangements for a child's care need to be reassured that the child will not encounter or be impacted, whether directly or indirectly, by an alcoholic or drug-addicted parent abusing those substances.
30 October 2023
National Fertility Awareness Week | In the Club?
In this National Fertility Awareness Week (30 Oct – 5 Nov 2023) Connie Atkinson, partner in the Family & Divorce team at law firm Kingsley Napley LLP, discusses the challenges of ‘trying to conceive’ that she has experienced first hand and from supporting her clients.
2 August 2023
Exploring surrogacy through children's literature: Highlighting resources during National Surrogacy Week
As a surrogacy specialist, I am often asked for tips on how to talk to children about the surrogacy journey their parent or parents embarked on to have them. It is generally accepted that it is important to make sure that children are given information early on, in an age appropriate way, about the amazing way in which they were born. I regularly point my clients in the direction of some of the most recommended children’s books on the topic. I am however ashamed to say that I hadn’t read them myself and they had been gathering dust on the shelf. With National Surrogacy Week fast approaching I set about reading these wonderful books to my daughter and recruited my colleague, Hannah Muress, to read them with her children too, to get some honest feedback from their intended audience!
28 July 2023
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Re S (Children: Parentage and Jurisdiction) [2023] EWCA Civ 897
The Court of Appeal has today released its judgment in the case of Re S (Children: Parentage and Jurisdiction) [2023] EWCA Civ 897, which was heard earlier this year.
30 November 2021
What about me? Reframing Support for Families following Parental Separation – The Family Solutions Group (FSG) Report - One year on
This month marks the one year anniversary of the publication of the FSG’s report ‘What about Me’. The FSG (of which I am fortunate to be a member), was set up in early 2020 (as a multi-disciplinary sub-group of the Private Law Working Group, chaired by Mr Justice Cobb) to produce recommendations to improve the experiences of, and opportunities for, separating families away from the Family Court. The report, supported by the President of the Family Division, was widely publicised and launched via a webinar attended by over 400 family professionals.
