Changes to the Law: Protecting Children and Survivors of Domestic Abuse

Changes to the law are expected in the near future following sustained campaigning by domestic abuse charities, family lawyers and individuals such as Claire Throssell, whose sons Jack (12) and Paul (9) were tragically killed by their father eleven years ago in a house fire in Yorkshire.
Despite previous threats to kill his children and himself, the court had allowed him unsupervised contact.

Why This Case Has Drawn National Attention

The case has received widespread media attention because of the way the Children Act 1989 was amended in 2014.
That amendment introduced a presumption that, unless proven otherwise, involvement of both parents in a child’s life is beneficial for the child’s welfare.

In the Throssell case, this presumption enabled the father to murder his children.

What Might Change

It is now likely that the government will revoke this presumption. The proposed reform would remove the automatic assumption that parental involvement benefits the child and instead ensure that child safety and welfare are the primary considerations.

If a parent is considered a potential risk to their child, the court could restrict their involvement — for example, by ordering supervised contact, indirect contact (such as letters or video calls), or in some cases, no contact at all.

Our Approach as Specialist Family Lawyers at Blanchards Law

As specialist family lawyers, our role is always to focus on what is in the best interests of the child.

Under the Children Act 1989, the court must apply a welfare checklist when deciding:

• Where a child should live
• How much time (if any) they should spend with the other parent

This checklist includes factors such as:

• The child’s emotional and physical well-being
• The child’s wishes and feelings (considering their age and understanding)
• The family’s history and what arrangements have been in place previously

The court is also guided by CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service), an independent body that provides expert advice to help judges make informed decisions about a child’s welfare.

We have successfully represented clients in court by providing evidence that, in certain circumstances, unsupervised contact would not be safe.
Equally, we have helped parents who were unfairly prevented from seeing their children to re-establish safe and meaningful relationships.

Our priority is always to ensure that every decision made — whether through negotiation or by the court — truly reflects the best interests of the child.

Our advice is simple; we want to help you enjoy the best possible relationship you can with your children following the breakdown of a relationship, and them with you.  It is vital that, you engage in and seek specialist children law advice on how best to achieve this as early as possible.  We regularly see clients who have ended up in situations which are not good for them or their children because they have tried to resolve matters themselves and without specialist advice.