Nuffield Family Justice Observatory Report On Private Family Law Applications Involving Non-Parents
The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO) has published a report exploring private law proceedings in the family courts that involve non-parent family members or adults.
10% of applications each year feature people who are not parents, such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings, step-parents, special guardians, foster carers, intended parents and putative fathers. Parents can also be involved in such applications, either as the other party, or as a joint applicant or respondent with the non-parent.
New research published by the NFJO explores the types of orders being applied for and the characteristics of the people involved. It highlights that this is a sizeable group, with around 5,500 such applications made each year in England and 300 in Wales. Grandparents accounted for 58% of all non-parents involved in England and 63% in Wales.
It goes without saying that these applications can be highly fraught and have a long-term impact on the family dynamic. If you’re a grandparent or other family member who is contemplating court proceedings, do explore engaging in non-court options first. Sometimes the key to unlocking these disputes can be found in the offices of a co-parenting expert, or mediator, or joint legal advice. Adversarial proceedings really should be your last resort.
You can read more here: Private family law applications involving non-parents are diverse and circumstances may overlap with public law cases according to new research.
Author Name: The Divorce Surgery
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