When you have to gather evidence for the family court, for example to prove parental alienation, abuse or to support a custody case, the key advice is to keep records.
Posts by Jill Canvin
Gather Evidence If You Are Representing Yourself in the Family Court
When you represent yourself in a contested family case, in other words without a lawyer, you are called a ‘litigant in person’ (LIP). It’s an extremely daunting experience and the best way to cope is to understand the process, read up about the issues, get good advice and guidance and be organised so as to make sure you do what’s necessary. For the professionals involved it’s their jobs. For you it’s your life and much more stressful. The better prepared you are the less likely you are to be overwhelmed.
What evidence does the CPS need to charge?
The CPS job is to prosecute criminal cases investigated by the police. As part of this role they make the decisions about what charges will be put to an accused. The CPS does not investigate crime. They must review every case referred by the police, or other investigators. They provide early legal advice in investigations to help build cases and to identify whether or not an accused should be charged.
The resources CAFCASS use to assess harmful conflict
If your case involves ‘harmful conflict’, the links in this blog show you exactly how CAFCASS will assess you and your family relationships. FCAs are expected to follow these processes although they do have discretion in how they conduct their assessments.
Domestic abuse: How ONRECORD helps you prove it and how CAFCASS assess it
Use ONRECORD to prove domestic abuse How ONRECORD helps you gather evidence proving domestic abuse and how to understand CAFCASS domestic abuse assessments. Domestic abuse almost invariably occurs in private, so…
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5 Real Life Situations You Need To Prove Using Evidence
Here are 5 examples are of serious problems which need proof if you’re going to deal with them successfully. They all involve the police and the courts. In every case you will need legal advice about what to do. Whether you succeed will depend on what you can prove and how good the evidence is. ONRECORD can help you make good records and improve your chances of success. Read our advice about making good records – you will need it in every case.
The CAFCASS ‘Tool’ for Assessing Coercive Control
Coercive behaviour is defined as “an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim. Coercive control involves repeated, ongoing, intentional tactics which are used to limit the liberty of the victim.
How to represent yourself in the family court
When you represent yourself in a contested family case, in other words without a lawyer, you are a ‘litigant in person’ (LIP). It’s a daunting experience and the best way to cope is to understand what’s going to happen, who is going to do what, what issues are going to be seen as important and what will not be seen as important, get good advice and be organised and make sure you do what’s necessary.
CAFCASS Assessments: Parental mental illness, Sexual abuse, Parental drug or alcohol abuse, Neglect, Child exploitation
See all the ‘tools’ used by CAFCASS to assess these parenting problems
CAFCASS Assessments: Parental Alienation
As part of their Child Impact Assessment Framework (CIAF), CAFCASS have guidance on how to assess families and how they work with children where there is parental alienation.
The links in this blog will show you exactly what the Family Court Adviser (FCA) will use to assess or analyse your family and you can see exactly what CAFCASS thinks is useful. FCAs are expected to follow these processes although they do have discretion in how they conduct their assessments.