Search judgments by proposition, citation, court, judge or legal topic, then move directly into the source-grounded case analysis.
Results update automatically as you type.
England and Wales decisions
Decisions matching the current search
Adoption is the only option that meets both the children’s need for permanence and ongoing sibling contact; long-term foster care cannot provide the same degree of security and belonging. The welfare of D and E requires dispensing with parental consent and making care and placement orders, with sibling contact prioritized in the care plan.
Source excerpt
The Court of Appeal allowed a local authority appeal, substituting a placement order for a care order and directing sibling contact to preserve family ties.
L (A Child: Placement and Contact Orders), Re [2026] EWCA Civ 639 (20 May 2026)
The Court of Appeal held that a placement order, not long-term foster care, best met A’s lifelong welfare needs and made a sibling contact order.
B-A, Re (Placement Order and Contact Order) [2026] EWCA Civ 356 (25 March 2026)
The Court of Appeal upheld a section 26 ACA 2002 order for annual face-to-face contact between adopted children and their father, despite family-finding concerns.
The Court of Appeal upheld a section 26 Adoption and Children Act 2002 order requiring annual face-to-face contact between two boys and their father after placement for adoption.
Prospective Adopters v Lincolnshire County Council & Ors (Good practice: supporting post-adoption contact) [2026] EWFC 47 (11 February 2026)
The court granted an adoption order for AB and declined to impose a s 51A contact order, instead endorsing a flexible post-adoption contact framework.
The court declined to impose a s 51A post-adoption contact order, finding that the paramount need of AB and C is to settle securely into their adoptive home, and that flexibility and professional support for evolving contact arrangements better serve their welfare than a rigid court order. The parties agreed to a child-focused post-adoption contact framework, endorsed and annexed to the adoption order.
Source excerpt
Care orders for all four children and a placement order for J are necessary and proportionate due to intolerable risk of physical and emotional harm, lack of parental insight and capacity, and need for lifelong welfare protection; parental consent to placement order for J is dispensed with as her welfare requires it.
Source excerpt
Adoption is necessary and proportionate for Child A as neither parent nor mother's friend D are realistic placement options; further delay is unjustified and contrary to Child A's welfare; the Placement Order application is procedurally valid and the court is satisfied that the threshold criteria are met.
Source excerpt
C, D, E and F, Re (ACA s51A: contact order after adoption) [2025] EWFC 436 (B) (08 December 2025)
The Family Court made a post-adoption sibling contact order under ACA 2002 s51A, requiring twice-yearly direct contact between four adopted siblings placed separately.
Explore more
