Sunday 20 July 2008

A Father by any other name?

At common law, a child is legitimate when born during the lawful marriage of his parents. A child that is born to a married woman is presumed to be the child of her husband. Both parents have parental responsibility for the child. There is a presumption that the husband (“H”) is also the father of the child. What if, however, the child is fathered by (“F”) a lover or boyfriend? Who has parental responsibility then?

Tuesday 26 February 2008

WOMEN , WORK AND BABIES.1

Hello Sophia!

I have a client who needs to prove that she is indeed pregnant, for her employer, how does she go about it?


What is acceptable evidence of pregnancy?

The employee must produce medical evidence of the date the baby/babies is due.

Twin and triplet mothers are unfortunately discriminated against as their pregnancies hardly ever proceed to the 40 weeks and 37 weeks is the normal gestation for twins, 35 for triplets. I am afraid you have to settle for a singleton EWC (see below) or if you book an elective caesarian this could stand as a EWC.

This will normally be on a Maternity Certificate MAT B1, which shows the date the baby is due.

The MAT B1 is given to the employee by the doctor or midwife. The date given on the MAT B1 can not be changed. Only in exceptional cases, a doctor or midwife who has given a fresh examination would issue a new MATB1. Also insure that your doctor knows, what you work as and what your work environment is, as a risk assessment has to be carried out in light of what is upon your certificate.

In cases where a MATB1 is lost or mislaid a replacement can be issued and clearly marked “duplicate”.

It cannot be issued before the start of the 20th week before the EWC, (that is the expected week of confinement for the Victorians amongst us) (before September 2001, this was the 14th week). (So please IGNORE any health professional that issues you later than twenty weeks citing the fact that you can legally still have an abortion.)

The date of issue is the date it was signed by the doctor or midwife.

The employer may be able to calculate what SMP is due before they receive medical evidence but they must not pay SMP until acceptable medical evidence is received. Although a birth certificate is acceptable as proof that a baby has been born, the employer still needs evidence of the date the baby was due, in order to check that the employee satisfies the continuous employment rule and to calculate the AWE.

Sunday 24 February 2008

Pensioner Parenting, Kinship Care and Special Guardianship.

SOPHIA CANNON, Barrister, Tooks Court Chambers, London.

PART ONE

Grandparents have no legal presumptions in law to care or to have contact with their grandchildren. In a previous article, Jordan’s Family Law May 2003, Relatives and Party Status 376 I discussed the then recent inroads to the position of grandparents obtaining leave to become parties in public care cases and private contact cases.

The Children Act 1989 at its heart has the parent family and from that parental rights and responsibility. Recent statutory amendments in the Children and Adoption Act 2002 have recognised that parental care can be delivered by non-parents just as effectively or in some cases, better then that what would have been delivered by the parents themselves.

It is to the extent that new forms of parenting have come into existence, some of which recognised in law, namely: special guardianship, kinship care and the colloquial term of “pensioner parenting”.

The idea that cross-generational and intergenerational parenting is becoming more common sings from the facts. One in five children is looked after someone who is their parents’ parent: pensioner parenting. Yet their position is not either formally recognised or rewarded. What has happened to reflect this shift in society on legal frameworks to buttress these relationships?

Usually there is no court order to recognise or regulate the situation; equally, there is not any remuneration. Pensioner parents generally take the strain: without question. If there is an ongoing court care case or one to be commenced, what right does any grandparent have to interfere notwithstanding the fact that they naturally may be left to care? Equally, if the issue is contact with a much-loved grandchild, what rights does the grandparent have at all?

What are the grandparents’ new rights to have their grandchild living with them emotionally safely and financially securely? Here follows a legal guide to the new case law, the new statutes that have insured that in name alone, there are four new “rights” for this group of carers, their solicitors, and equally highlighting the local authority’s duties.

To assist the non-legal litigant in person grandparent: A right to be Heard, Assessed, Recompensed and for a Timetable.

Before the survey of these new rights, what makes special guardianship different from an adoption order or a residence order or long-term fostering under a care order?

The key difference is that Special Guardianship Orders are the cream of all three traditional orders. Those who become special guardians’ (“Specials”) have a new ripe legislative tree to pick rights from and in theory; the Act is plump with services attuned to the needs of the children who they look after.

As with adoption orders, the natural parents’ right to exercise their parental responsibility is altered. Unlike adoption, however, parental responsibility is not removed but it is curtailed by the special guardian. Again, as in adoption, the right of the Special to change the name of the child (section 14B(2)) is clear but it is not absolute and is subject to the sanction of the court, L (A Child) (2007) Times, April 11, 2007.

Like residence orders, specials can have a contact order made in favour of the natural parents. (Section 14 B (1) of the 1989 Act) The beneficiaries are the child whose parents who have been sidelined but not totally displaced by the making of the special guardianship order, and the parents themselves who would, under a traditional adoption order had their rights extinguished and their contact limited.

As in long-term fostering, if necessary, the special guardianship order is seen as a placement. This “residential placement” under a special guardianship order is assessed. Firstly, the assessment is for the needs of the child, secondly, for the delivery of services and thirdly for the means of the carer. The child’s needs in conjunction with the carers’ resources are globally reviewed and then supported by the local authority with finance, services until the child’s majority.