F v G (private law final hearing), Re

Facts

The parents were in a relationship between 2010 and 2016 and separated when their sons B, now twelve, and C, now nine, were five and three. Mr G is not C's biological father but has raised him as his own since birth. The boys lived mainly with Ms F, spending regular time with their father, and social services became involved in 2019 amid concerns about parental conflict and the boys' care. Following the March 2020 lockdown Mr G did not see the boys for some months and applied to the court; in September 2020 an order was made that the children live with their mother and spend alternate weekends, alternate Tuesday nights and broadly half the holidays with their father. In early 2022 Ms F, unwell and struggling emotionally, asked Mr G to look after the boys, and by the end of March 2022 they had returned to live with him, the local authority having made clear it would issue proceedings if she did not agree. The concerns were of neglect and emotional harm, including exposure to domestic abuse with Ms F's partner Mr S, the boys being unable to wake her, and their taking on a caring role. They were placed on a child protection plan on 3 May 2022, conditional on their remaining with their father. On 12 May 2022 Ms F applied to enforce the September 2020 order; on 7 June 2022 Mr G cross-applied for the boys to remain in his care.