Oh dear. Well, it’s true I have been very busy, but apologies for the long gap between posts. Many interesting things have happened while I’ve been elsewhere, although from my point of view the most interesting is probably the Jones v Kernott decision, about which I intend to write in the near future, but there are lots of other potentially important developments. I hope to return very shortly with more news and comment.
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New York orphans off on a trip to Coney Island; from the New York Public Library collection on Flickr.
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I have sometimes been surprised by the attitude that some of my colleagues at the family bar, and family lawyers generally (and indeed, I regret to say, sometimes the family bench), have towards money. Quite often I have been told, in the context of a private law section 8 dispute or indeed sometimes in the course of care proceedings, that family money is an unimportant issue. I have been told that it is trivial; I have been told that one or more of the parties is being mercenary; I have been told, implicitly and explicitly, that disputes about money, particularly in the context of contact proceedings, should be treated as totally irrelevant because they are not what family law should be about. It turns out, as I always suspected, that the children involved in such disputes emphatically disagree. I am delighted to see that, as this report from CAFCASS demonstrates, 46% of children involved in contact disputes were worried about money and accepted the blindingly obvious truth, namely that they had got poorer as a result of their parents separating. Money is important to children too. The very least we can do as professionals is accept that they have got a point. Bravo to CAFCASS for commissioning this research and, I hope, making all legal professionals aware that money matters as much to children as it does to their parents.
The image is “Mrs Guinness and her Children” from the Library of Congress Collection on flickr. I love the standing little girl’s rather mad oversized hat.
Posted in child poverty, child support, infant children | Leave a Comment »
A busy day today. Those who keep up with this blog will know that I take a very keen interest in openness in the family courts and the comparisons, sometimes invidious, with what happens in criminal cases. In that regard I bring your attention to this story from the Times that Mr Justice Keith has been refused access to the full Serious Case Review in the case of the Edlington children, despite the fact that Peter Kelson QC (for the older brother) wanted the Judge to be able to read in full prior to sentencing how he believed social services and other authorities had failed the children. The decision was taken by the Doncaster Safeguarding Children Board, although I have to question whether this particular child is being “safeguarded” by having access to important pre-sentencing information about him withheld from the trial Judge. It may well be that this is not a case where the professionals involved are putting their interests in front of the childrens’, but the problem, as I think I have said before, is one of perception. What conclusion will the public draw from this turn of events?
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by Tina Manthorpe on Flickr; all rights reserved
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From the McCord Museum of Canadian History collection on Flickr
Note that 25% of all separated parents did not speak to anyone at all to get advice about the financial support of their children; a further 25% spoke only to their mothers. All Nanas out there should take note, and also take note of the website address www.cmoptions.org. But this is an issue for all advisers, including lawyers — and note that 29% of separating parents did not want to involve lawyers. We came in only 2% ahead of the CSA! We can all make our clients aware of this important resource, whether they have legal problems or simply practical ones.
This beautiful image from the collection of the McCord Museum of Canadian History collection on Flickr reminds us of the bad old days (or it ought to). The children are probably Irish immigrants living in Goose Village, Montreal around about 1910. The little one doesn’t look too happy about being photographed, does she?
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Everything was going great until he rediscovered his first girlfriend on Facebook. From the George Eastman House collection on Flickr.
Not strictly money-related, but I cannot resist directing your attention to this article in the Daily Telegraph (originally from Divorce-Online, but I can’t find the story on their site) about the increasing role Facebook is playing in divorce petitions, taking over from Friends Reunited. Having your divorce announced by your husband on Facebook (before he tells you!) is possibly a new low, lower even than that notorious episode of Sex and the City when Carrie Bradshaw was dumped by Post-It note. Times are changing so quickly that sometimes it feels difficult to keep up.
Posted in Divorce, Unusual and newsworthy | Leave a Comment »
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