Good Divorce Week: Financial Penalties for Battling Parents?
3 December 2021
As Resolution's Good Divorce Week 2021 comes to a close, Graham Coy, Partner in the Family Law Team at Wilsons Solicitors LLP, comments on the proposal for financial penalties on warring parents.
In Today's Family Lawyer, Graham explains that every year nearly 100,000 children are involved in private law proceedings. This excludes proceedings where parents resolve issues about their care themselves, or turn to Mediation, Collaboration or Family Arbitration - so the total number of children involved in a divorce could be much higher.
Resolution, during the course of “Good Divorce Week“, 29 November to 3 December, is attempting to promote a national conversation about how parents can embrace a child-focused approach to separation and that is an encouraging start and needs our full support. The organisation recently conducted a study which found that, “two-thirds of separated parents say they lacked access to advice about how to put their children first during family separation“.
With some interesting observations on the real issues facing the Family Courts, and why subjecting parents to financial penalties if they bring 'vexatious claims' may not get to the root of the problem, Graham suggests that legal professionals have a vital role to play.
Read the full article here, in Today's Family Lawyer.
“We need to accept that issuing court proceedings about children should be the last resort when all else has been tried and has not been successful.”
Graham Coy, Family Law Partner, Wilsons Solicitors LLP
