Article by Emma Weaver
On 22nd October 2025, the current Government announced that it would be repealing the presumption that the involvement of a parent in a child’s life would further their welfare. The news comes following a final report published by the Ministry of Justice (“MoJ”) which can be found in full here: Review of the Presumption of Parental Involvement
The decision has been hailed by many domestic abuse organisations as a vital step to addressing deficits in the family justice system for victims of abuse.
The current law
The enactment of the Children and Families Act 2014 saw the insertion of the presumption which amended section 1 of the Children Act 1989. Section 1(2A) of the Children Act 1989 reads as follows:
“(2A) A court, in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (4)(a) or (7), is as respects each parent within subsection (6)(a) to presume, unless the contrary is shown, that involvement of that parent in the life of the child concerned will further the child’s welfare.”
As such, the starting point for the family courts is that the involvement of a parent in a child’s life will further their welfare. It should be noted, however, that there is no presumption as to what that involvement should entail and this could include direct or indirect involvement. The presumption can be rebutted as set out in the legislation but this must be demonstrated to the court. It could be argued that this places an unfair burden on a victim of abuse to demonstrate to the court that their ex-partner poses a risk to the child or children.
The presumption can be displaced where there is evidence of abuse to one of the parents by the other or to the child as a result of admissions, findings made by the family court or criminal convictions. Notably, the report provided by the MoJ outlines that even in cases where domestic abuse was present as a result of convictions, findings or protective orders, the court still made orders for the direct involvement of the perpetrator with the child or children.
Practice Direction 12J should also be at the forefront of the court’s mind where there are allegations of abuse or proven abuse and particularly, that children need not have witnessed domestic abuse to be considered a victim of the same.
The MoJ report
The report draws from research including the final report produced by the Harm Panel in 2020. The latter called for an urgent review of the presumption noting their view that the court had a‘pro-contact culture’ and found that courts had a ‘deep-seated’ and ‘systematic’ commitment to maintaining contact between children and their parents.
The report also comes days after a review was undertaken by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner whereby it was found that domestic abuse was not considered to be ‘an active issue’ in 73% of hearings it observed and in 87% of the case files it reviewed. This is echoed by the sentiments of the MoJ report noting that the court often dismissed concerns of domestic abuse as being ‘historic’ or not being serious enough.
When will the presumption end?
Unfortunately, no timescales have yet been provided but the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has confirmed the repeal “is going to happen”. The repeal will be presented to Parliament “as soon as Parliamentary time allows”.
What will the repeal look like in practice?
The repeal is going to result in a significant change in the family justice system and impact the way in which the court will make decisions regarding arrangements for children. However, it is likely that we will have to ‘wait and see’ how the repeal is going to change things on the ground. The court will still be required to consider the parties’ Human Rights including Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and the welfare checklist as set out in Section 1 of the Children Act 1989.
There are also cases where one parent is faced with another who is ‘implacably hostile’ and may even produce allegations to further support a narrative that the other parent should not been involved with the children. This poses the question of whether the repeal will be detrimental to those parties in such a scenario where they must convince the court that they should be involved in their child’s life without a presumption to assist them?
Conclusion
The repeal of the presumption of parental involvement marks a significant shift, reflecting a move away from presumptions about parental roles toward a more child-centred approach. While the original presumption aimed to ensure that both parents remained actively engaged in a child’s life after separation, its removal acknowledges that involvement is not always in the best interests of a child and at times, is unsafe.
