Q&As

Within care proceedings both a birth parent (who has previously not cared for the child who is the subject of the proceedings) and a family member have been positively assessed by the local authority to care for the child. Is there a presumption in favour of a birth parent instead of a wider family member when the court is considering with whom the a child should be placed?

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Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk
Published on: 04 October 2018
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Whether there is a presumption in favour of a birth parent was considered within the context of private law proceedings by the Court of appeal in Re E-R (child arrangements order). The background to the case was that the subject child lived with her mother who was terminally ill. At first instance, the court had provided for the child to live with the father upon the death of the mother, rather than under a special guardianship order with the friends of the mother who had been caring for the child and mother during the latter’s illness. As can be seen at para 35 of the judgment,

Katherine Illsley
Katherine Illsley

4 King’s Bench Walk

Katherine’s family practice covers matrimonial finance, TOLATA, Schedule 1, and private law children proceedings. She has experience acting for local authorities, guardians and parents in public law children cases, including in cases involving allegations of non-accidental injuries.

Katherine also is regularly instructed in housing and property work, and due to the frequent crossover with family law has a particular interest in cases involving trusts.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Local authority definition
What does Local authority mean?

The County, Unitary or london borough Council for a defined area.

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