Defending a father’s time with his children after false allegations

When relationships break down and there are children involved, our priority is to try and keep the situation as calm as possible. It’s not always easy as it’s often an emotional and stressful time, depending on the prior circumstances.
We negotiate for our clients to achieve a fair and sensible outcome for everyone involved; our advice is always aimed around creating as little disruption and trauma to the children as possible.

We listen to what’s happening and advocate for clients to avoid losing contact with their children.

About the case

Our client came to us after his marriage had broken down, with allegations of sexual assault made against him by his estranged wife, which had resulted in him leaving the family home. He had never been charged for any offense relating to the mother.

Our client has three children and already had a mutually agreed arrangement in place to see his children, spending weekends with them. Agreeable to both parents, it had been working well.
However, the mother was now stopping him from seeing the children regularly and had threatened to withhold contact unless he agreed to her conditions.
Our client applied to the family court asking them to help him to secure regular contact with his children. However, his estranged wife responded repeating the serious allegations, in addition, accusing him of controlling and coercive behavior.

Preparing for court

Our client’s estranged wife’s response containing all the allegations she wanted to raise in proceedings was received only 6 weeks before the hearing – not enough time for him to fully respond to such extensive and serious claims. 
Although at this stage the court limits the response, we submitted an application to address all the points raised by his estranged wife as thoroughly as possible within the time constraints to ensure that no important information was omitted. His estranged wife opposed this, but after our robust presentation the statement was taken into consideration during the hearing

Who are Cafcass and why are they involved

Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) is an independent public body in England and is accountable to the Ministry of Justice. Cafcass works only in family court cases and are there to represent the interests of children.

Cafcass was instructed by the Court to prepare a safeguarding letter (which takes on the form of a mini report), review the applications submitted by both parties, consider any prior involvement by local authorities and check police records. This letter is required by the Court to make decision regarding a contact order. Cafcass initially carries out their investigations via a telephone interview. If directed by the Court, they may also be required to prepare a welfare report (known as a Section 7 report), which involves in-person assessments.

Resulting challenges

• Child matters are often very emotive and remaining calm can be difficult, yet it is so important to do so – mainly for the child/children’s sake.
• Our client felt that the Cafcass officer did not listen to him or allow him to respond uninterrupted regarding his activities with the children, but rather focused heavily on the allegations.
• The Cafcass report was received 2 days before the hearing. It contained so many inaccuracies that although the other side’s solicitors confirmed the mother’s agreement with the recommendations, they felt compelled to highlight these errors in their position statement.
• The most serious inaccuracy was that the report stated our client was awaiting an ‘impending prosecution for rape’. In reality, our client had not been charged with any offence, let alone facing prosecution.

The outcome for our client

The recommendations were that the current contact of a regular fully unsupervised, residential weekend, be reduced to supervised day contact. Our barrister made the Court aware that just the day before the hearing, the client had returned from a lovely holiday in Wales, which the mother had raised no objection to. This trip was unsupervised and involved an overnight stay, which had been mutually agreed. Our question was why contact was to be reduced and supervised, with this recent arrangement being acceptable.

Just a few minutes prior to the hearing taking place, all sexual allegations were withdrawn at the pre-hearing discussions.  

The Court ordered that contact should continue as it currently stands, unsupervised residential weekends and that a full welfare report (also known as a Section 7 report) be prepared by Cafcass. This report will assess various factors, including each parent’s ability to care for the children, the suitability of their housing, how well they can accommodate the children’s needs within their schedules, the nature of their relationships with the children, and the children’s wishes and feelings (where appropriate based on age and understanding). The report’s author will then provide recommendations regarding the future contact arrangements.

Our client was pleased with the result, but naturally frustrated that this matter had to go this far in the first place. We share his frustration, knowing that with communication, mediation in some cases and sensible discussion, the emotions of a situation, which often underpin cases, can be calmed and plans made that reduce upset for the child/children. Without strong, professional legal representation, this matter could have ended very differently, negatively affecting the important bond between a father and his children.

Need help with a child contact case?

If you’re a parent facing false allegations or are worried about losing contact with your children, we’re here to help.
Contact our Divorce and Family team to find out more.
Read more about our team here:
Divorce & Family

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