LKM v NPM

LKM v NPM

The court found that the father has dysfunctional personality traits that pose a risk of emotional and physical harm to the children, particularly in unsupervised settings, and that these risks are best addressed through engagement in psychotherapy. The evidence did not support immediate shared care or unsupervised contact without safeguards. The welfare of the children required a staged progression to unsupervised and overnight contact, contingent on the father's engagement in therapy, with the mother to have a sole lives with order and a detailed schedule for parental responsibility. The children should remain at their current school, and both parents and the children should engage in...

Parties
Applicant: LKM; Respondent: NPM
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
11 September 2024
Procedural Posture
Children Act Proceedings (private Law) / Welfare Hearing Following Fact Finding
Outcome
Sole lives with order to the mother; staged progression to unsupervised and overnight contact for the father contingent on therapy; continued supervision of weekend contact until therapy engagement; children to remain at current school; detailed schedule for parental responsibility; therapy for both parents and...
Legal Topics
Child Arrangements, Parental Responsibility, Domestic Abuse, Expert Evidence, Supervised Contact, Therapy Orders
Family Law Child Arrangements Parental Responsibility Domestic Abuse Expert Evidence Supervised Contact Therapy Orders

Case Brief

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Parties

LKM

Applicant

NPM

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Children Act Proceedings (private Law) / Welfare Hearing Following Fact Finding

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether to make a shared lives with (residence) order or sole lives with order for the children
  2. 2 Whether supervision of the father's contact should continue
  3. 3 What progression to unsupervised and overnight contact is appropriate

Ratio Decidendi

The court found that the father has dysfunctional personality traits that pose a risk of emotional and physical harm to the children, particularly in unsupervised settings, and that these risks are best addressed through engagement in psychotherapy. The evidence did not support immediate shared care or unsupervised contact without safeguards. The welfare of the children required a staged progression to unsupervised and overnight contact, contingent on the father's engagement in therapy, with the mother to have a sole lives with order and a detailed schedule for parental responsibility. The children should remain at their current school, and both parents and the children should engage in...

Court Disposition

Sole lives with order to the mother; staged progression to unsupervised and overnight contact for the father contingent on therapy; continued supervision of weekend contact until therapy engagement; children to remain at current school; detailed schedule for parental responsibility; therapy for both parents and...

Orders

  • Mother to have sole lives with order for the children.
  • Father to have staged progression to unsupervised contact: immediate removal of supervision for weekday contact; weekend contact to remain supervised until father completes three months of psychotherapy and is engaged, then to become unsupervised.