Post-adoption contact

In re R (a child) (adoption: contact) CA TLR 15 September

A 17-year-old girl who wished to maintain regular and frequent contact with her 7-year-old half-sister who was living with her prospective adoptive parents applied for a contact order under s8 of the Children Act 1989. Section 10(9) of the Act lays down the applicable criteria for granting leave to make an application for an order, which included the applicant’s connection with the child and the degree of risk resulting from proposed application disrupting the child’s life. Although the prospective adoptive parents had originally expressed their willingness for contact between the two sisters to continue, they said that the child had not settled easily with them, was affected by contact visits and wished direct contact to be reduced to one visit a year, with full and direct contacts.