I've been following a number of family court parental alienation cases over the last 18 months & have seen a pattern of mothers making allegations of domestic abuse or child sex abuse being invited to undergo psychological assessments before being labelled mad, bad or unstable.🧵

I hear this all the time. I've been working on this for long enough now to know that these cases are not outliers. It seems mothers who support their child's disclosures of CSA are punished the most. ie. least contact.

This is very good, especially the key point that a child whose parent has been subjected to domestic abuse by the other parent has also, by definition, been subjected to domestic abuse. Too many of us in the family justice system have not yet taken that on board.

Clampdown on unproven fertility treatment add-ons bbc.in/3M7aWK7

Do have a read of the latest quarterly newsletter from the investment managers and financial planners at MHA Caves, featuring a guest article from yours truly on pre-marital agreements. mhacaves.co.uk/mha-caves-quar… via @CaveandSons

Genuinely very excited about this and I would love you to have a read and to share it. It can be viewed by anyone (you don’t have to be a resolution member) so I hope it contributes to a wider conversation on how we’re doing with #wellbeing

Drawing on our Nuffield Foundation Fair Shares Project research, @Gill_D1111 and I have written a short piece for The Conversation on the financial reality of divorce for 'everyday' couples. theconversation.com/many-divorcees…

Some of the key findings from the Nuffield Foundation Fair Shares Project study, outlined in this article. theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2…

More than 100,000 couples divorce in England and Wales each year but new research indicates that less than a third divide their stuff equally and two out of three take no legal advice at all. Find out more from Prof Emma Hitchings of Bristol Law School on BBC Money Box noon BBC Radio 4

👏Emma Hitchings's Fair Shares Project report — the first detailed insight into what happens to assets when a marriage breaks down — has been covered by The Guardian's Amelia Hill. Emma also spoke to Paul Lewis on BBC Radio 4's BBC Money Box. Guardian article ⤵️ theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2…

The suggestion that there’s no pro contact culture in the family courts flies in the face of statute and case law. There is a presumption of parental involvement in S1(2A) CA 1989. Case law abounds with exhortations to judges not to give up on contact 1/3

Abuse of a parent harms all children connected to that parent too.

It seems fairly obvious to me that a conviction for child sex offences should result in automatic and permanent termination of parental responsibility and a complete bar on contact. I fail to see how anything else can ever be in the best interests of the child.

When a family judge prefers his own biases to the law, all is lost. With thanks to transparency project for hosting, see below the transcript I've just been given permission to publish by Lieven J. It makes for truly shaming reading. My blog + @familoo comment further down the thread.

Excellent piece from Louise Tickle, whose work on this is invaluable.

A case reported by Hannah Summers for ⁦The Observer⁩ (via The Bureau of Investigative Journalism Family Court Files) where an unregulated court expert recommends removal of child from mother who disputed the use of that expert, who the court then orders to provide paid-for therapy. theguardian.com/law/2023/dec/1…

This is a troubling case. Father represented by a KC, mother representing herself in high stakes family court proceedings that have seen a judge remove a daughter from her mother based on a recommendation from an unregulated court expert

At the launch of Family Mediation Week, FMC representatives discussed how changes in the court/family justice system aim to encourage #mediation And about how mediators & others can help separating families better understand options for resolving issues Watch: youtube.com/watch?v=-R35r0…

Allowing journalists to report on family courts is welcome. Now editors need to give them the resources to tell these complex stories properly - my comment piece for@guardian (journos wanting to report on family courts, link to support at the bottom!) theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

📺 Now available to watch ⭐ Everything #Lawyers Always Wanted To Know About #FamilyMediation (But Were Afraid To Ask) 💻 A webinar from Family Mediation Week, presented by Louisa Whitney and Jo O'Sullivan ▶ youtube.com/watch?v=zJ5LHK…