Has Henry been Kidnapped

[Tom Williams]

I don’t even claim to understand the ins and outs of the Step oarent thing Rob signs for Henry but
Legally where should he be the episode made it sound like the titcheners had Kidnapped him

Someone cleverer than me care to explain

[Mia Fox]

I really don’t understand why Titchkynob wants Henwy with him. He’s not he’s natural father and has only been his legal father for a few minutes. And he wants to pack him off to boarding school. So why the big fuss? Is it just to completely strip Helen of everything… or is there something more perverse going on?

[Jim O’Hara]

Somebody on the Twitters said it perfectly: “If Rob had stabbed Helen, nobody would be asking why Henry would go back to live with her.”

Rob is Henry’s father, he hasn’t been accused of any crime. I don’t think has told anyone of the extent of the abuse, not even her barrister. She never told the police anything. Helen’s family is trying to back her but they don’t know exactly why.

Unless the world hears different, Helen went crazy and stabbed her devoted litter picking husband.

On the second post, it’s all about control. Helen is going to go bonkers when she hears where Henry is.

[Witherspoon]

We do need a family law expert to weigh in on this question. As we know, Rob is not actually Henry’s father, but was granted step-parent rights (and responsibilities). Are step-parent rights in force if the couple has separated? In the States grandparents have been granted rights in sticky divorce situations; and on top of it, Ursula wouldn’t appear to have any legal rights in this situation. And once someone alleges that Rob is a threat to Henry then the entire situation changes.

Does Rob have any true feelings of parental affection toward Henry? Probably a little, but overshadowed by his desire to exact vengeance on Helen and control all in his orbit.

[Audreyanne Covarrubias]

I just don’t get what Rob’s end game is. Why would he want custody of Henry, aside from the obvious vengeance and control, what does he really stand to gain by raising him? Is there property and money in it for him? Could there be another route of inheritance that Rob is trying to realize? One that stipulates that he needs to have a male heir in order to benefit from a trust or legacy from his own family?

[Diane Telford]

Good point Audreyanne.

I suspect Miles is number 1 son. So Rob needed to marry his future farm.

He had got rid of Tom (temporarily) and was already laying the ground work for getting rid of Jonnie. He was working very hard on Piggy.

[Tom Williams]

Didn’t peggy leave her place to Helen & Henry… well helen is out of the way (in robs mind) and he has Henry so… Profit

[Miss Mid-City]

OK, technically I practice family law … occasionally.

So just to explain a bit of what’s going on, Rob has a step parental responsibility order. Therefore he has the same rights (and duties/responsibilities) as a parent. This order stays in place until there’s a further order that reverses it or until the child turns 18 (and is no longer a child for the purposes of the law) or the child dies. I believe this is why Helen appeared to be so upset with herself at the end of Friday’s episode: she realises now how easy it was to allow a monster into her life and into Henry’s life without the more rigorous demands of the adoption process.

Grandparents (for example, Pat and Tony) do not have parental responsibility. Ursula definitely doesn’t have parental responsibility. As a preliminary matter, Pat and Tony would have had to ask for permission to make an application for a “child arrangements order”. Child arrangements orders have replaced contact and residence orders (which lay people sometimes refer to as access and custody). Anyway, once granted permission, they were then able to make an application for what used to be called an interim residence order. Right now, a child arrangement order has been made in Rob’s favour stating that Henry is to live with him (for the time being, until there is a further order).

And this is where I find it tricky.

Helen is currently awaiting trial. Nothing should really be finalised in the family court until the outcome of her criminal trial is known. However, until then I think she should be joined as a party to the family proceedings – because she’s pregnant with Rob’s child, too. That child will become subject of the same proceedings, presumably, when he is born. He will be expected to live with his sibling. Currently, that home is with Rob, their father.

In the family proceedings, according to Anna, the court has ordered reports (from CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Services) presumably). This is standard procedure. It can take around 6 weeks to get a report maybe more time maybe less.

So far Helen has not disclosed the extent of the violence and abuse – and her fears about Henry’s safety – otherwise the court might have ordered social services to file a report (indicating that the situation is quite serious). Without Helen’s contribution, any CAFCASS report is just going to investigate the respective homes, speak with the school, set out the different parties’ positions and draw a conclusion based on some innocuous facts: Helen and Rob have been in a relationship for about 2 years or so; Henry is Helen’s child by donor insemination; Rob is Henry’s step father and has a step parental responsibility order; Helen stabbed Rob; Rob was seriously injured; Helen is facing trial; Henry has had a few problems at school; Henry has extended family members living close by; Henry has a good relationship with Rob and calls him “Daddy”; and Helen refuses to see visitors apart from her Counsel. Pat and Tony don’t know why Helen stabbed Rob whereas Rob has made a hyperbolic statement to the police which will be the same balderdash that he uses as a statement in the family proceedings. (In the course of these family proceedings, you’d want disclosure of the police proceedings including that statement.) When Pat and Tony see what he has to say, they’ll be tamping with rage and it might trigger off concerns in the mind of a CAFCASS officer. We’ll see.

If Helen opens up about the domestic abuse, then the court’s approach to the family proceedings will be different. Decisions have to be made about Henry and what’s in his best interests. And the best place might not be with Rob if the family court hears what Helen has to say. If Helen is a party to proceedings, her representatives might ask for a psychological assessment of her. But if she continues to keep quiet, the court is likely to maintain the status quo and conclude that the best place for Henry now is with his (step) father who has parental responsibility.

The family court and the criminal court have different “timetables”. The cases are not bound to run parallel with each other. So it’s going to be interesting for me to see how the two sets of proceedings pan out. At some point further down the line, I anticipate that there may even be care proceedings, where the local authority will become involved and Helen will be joined and she will undergo psychological assessment. It’s also possible that Rob may also have to undergo some sort of parental assessment or psychological assessment – who knows if he can care for a baby as well as Henry?!

All of this is fine for legal hacks like me but this is a really unhelpful road for the drama to have headed down.

[Aunty Jean]

That’s an excellent round up miss mid city. Thank you. So many complaint Henry living with rob wouldn’t happen in real life so now they now it would.

I think you’re right when you say it’s an awkward route for the archers to take. It’ll make for some interesting script writing/editing choices in the coming months.

Still think we should employ a giant wasp to sting the bastard to death. But hey that’s just me!

[Ms Bubbles]

Thanks Miss_Mid_City, that is a great explanation! I know I have asked this in various forms before but I just want to make sure I understand. Helen had to give consent for the original step-parent order but once in place she can do nothing to change it without going through the same procedures that she would have to if Rob was Henry’s natural or adoptive father. Is that correct? This seems very strange, that is, not a very good law. I had originally assumed that Rob’s rights and duties operated something like a power of attorney and that Helen could withdraw her consent at any time but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

[Author]

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