Children of same sex couple

In re G (children) (residence: same sex partner) CA TLR 29 April

Where a judge differs from the recommendation of a CAFCASS officer in a family case she has to give clear reasons for doing so. The court allowed an appeal brought by the lesbian former partner of the mother of two children conceived by artificial insemination during their relationship against residence and contact orders rather than the shared residence order recommended by the CAFCASS officer. The judge did not give sufficient reasoning to justify the departure, she did not sufficiently identify the importance of the indirect route to achieve parental responsibility by means of the shared residence order and did not have regard to authority as well as current trends, both in statutory and judicial evolution, to same sex relationships; she failed to pay proper heed to the CAFCASS officer’s warning that without parental responsibility, the non-resident former partner would be marginalised. The appeal was allowed.