Pay As You Go may be the way forward?

Following my blog back in May about unrepresented families in Court an article this week in the Law Society Gazette again highlights the issue.

Separating parents are giving up on the courts and may take the law into their own hands in trying to see their children, family lawyers have warned.

CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) statistics show there was a 36% fall in private law cases on the same month last year.

Simon Bethel, Chair of Resolution’s children committee, said the figures suggest parents are not finding their way through the ‘maze’ of options regarding their children when they separate.

‘Rather than receiving expert help to try and secure working shared care arrangements for their children, they are giving up,’ he said.

Naomi Angell (chair of the Law Society’s family law committee) said that the lack of access to legal advice and to the courts may mean that while in many cases parents simply give up, in others they may abduct their children.

‘We were always worried that the cuts would mean that out of desperation people would take things into their own hands.  I am absolutely certain that children are being denied access to their parents – which seriously undermines the concept of shared parenting being introduced by the Children and Families Bill,’ she added.

However, there is a way forward - Pay As You Go law.  If you find that Legal Aid isn't available to help you through the court system or provide advice, you can simply access legal advice and pay as you go along.

This is something that we at Hopkins Law are very keen to promote, so if you think you could be helped in this way, either visit the Pay As You Go page on our website, or give us a call on 029 2039 5888.