Unreasonable mothers risk losing custody of children

Mothers are being warned that they risk losing custody of their children if they deny reasonable access to estranged fathers.

Lawyers say two recent cases in the Court of Appeal show that judges are becoming more willing to take action against women who obstruct contact arrangements designed to be fair to both parents.

Catherine Wenborn, head of family law at Andersons solicitors in Nottingham, says the law considers the interests of the child to be paramount and works from the assumption that regular contact with both parents is desirable.

“Most families work out satisfactory arrangements but some mothers can be very obstructive and make it difficult for the father to see the children. In the past, the courts have been reluctant to take the extreme step of removing children from the mother in these circumstances but now that seems to be changing.”

Earlier this month (July), the Court of Appeal heard how a mother repeatedly behaved in a disruptive manner by interrupting her son’s contact sessions with his father. The judges ruled that it was in the child’s long term interest that he should live with his father.

In June, a father was granted a residence order for his daughter after the mother failed to comply with contact orders on at least 11 occasions. The Court of Appeal said the mother’s hostility and refusal to co-operate meant there was no option but to let the girl live with her father.

Miss Wenborn said: “Women who abide by contact arrangements have nothing to fear but those who put obstacles in the way could find the courts are now more willing to clamp down, even to the point of taking their children from them.”

Catherine Wenborn is Head of the Family Department at Andersons Solicitors and can be contacted on 0115 988 6717 or by emailing cwenborn@andersonssolicitors.co.uk

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