We provide information

Our first project was The Custody Minefield Book which reached no.2 on Amazon's Divorce Chart and was stocked by Waterstones and other major retailers. The Magistrates Association Magazine recommended '...this book should be made available to any parents who are separating - it could save them a lot of expense in legal fees.' Magistrates Magazine 2007

The Divisional Chair of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy described The Custody Minefield as a 'gem of information'. Our new e-guide to Shared Residence replaces this.

We bring together research

Many people have called for a default presumption of shared residence when parents separate. We bring together and publicise compelling research findings which prove that shared parenting is in children's best interests.

We Innovate

Whether it be downloadable, hyperlinked factsheets, new arguments to assist parents in court, digital books on family law, quick guides (coming soon), downloadable MSWord templates for court documents (such as statements), templates for letters to help parents be included in important parts of their children's lives, or our 'email your MP' facility for lobbying.

Our 2010 innovation was content designed for reading on smartphones. 38 new information sheets have been published in 2010/11 using this new format and answering over 300 questions on family law - more than 70,000 words of content in an easily navigable menu.

Visit our Family Law Menu

In 2011 we're introducing content for Kindle with advantages for McKenzie Friends, adults with specific learning difficulties and the visually impaired.

The Custody Minefield Website

Created in 2006, in our first year we provided information to 3,000 parents. In 2007, we helped 16,600. 2008 saw 29,750 visitors to our site and a recommendation from The Times. By 2009, the number was 52,300. 2010 saw visits more than double to 108,290. In 2011 it's already over a quarter of a million.

We Blog 

TCM featuring in the News

Articles by Michael Robinson

Michael Robinson

In 2006 I wrote The Custody Minefield (TCM) book, and from there, the rest is history. For the next 4 years, I was also part of the moderator team for the charity Families Need Fathers' Discussion Forums.

My background is in analysis, corporate presentation for world market leading multinationals, and presenting arguments for complex funding deals for blue chip financial institutions. These skills are transferrable, and after a friend's suicide after he was stopped from seeing his child, the skills built up in my career were diverted to helping parents such as him, and his child who will now never see his father.

I do not campaign for parents' rights, I campaign for child welfare. Research is conclusive that shared parenting is the best outcome for children after divorce or separation. No child should be denied the full and meaningful involvement of both parents in their lives unless there are serious welfare concerns.

My friend killed himself because he felt powerless. Research by FNF and the Equal Parenting Alliance found more than a third of parents contemplate suicide when dealing with separation via the family courts. Shocklingly, the research found that 7% of participants in the survey had actually tried killing themselves due to the combined stress of separation and court proceedings.

In 2007, research by the United Nations found the United Kingdom to have the unhappiest children in the developed world. It was no surprise that the three countries with the happiest children had a presumption of shared parenting when parents separate.

While there are some extremely good judges, there exists an unacceptable level of inconsistency from court to court. Family law outcomes remain a lottery. CAFCASS as a service has consistently failed OfStEd Inspection, delays in court proceedings are leaving more and more familes in limbo. Legal aid budgets are cut to the bone, and the level of information available to separating parents is unacceptably poor.

I now work with a number of others to provide parents with the support and information that they desperately need. I also support a number of charities and organisations who campaign for improved outcomes for the children of separated parents.

We Lobby

TCM's legal reform proposals on Grandparents Rights in care and adoption proceedings were the subject of a Parliamentary Early Day Motion (EDM1199) in March 2008. 58 MPs supported our aims. In 2009 the Conservatives agreed to greater rights for Grandparents. In 2010, the Labour Government included a removal of the need to ask permission to apply for Grandparents and greater support.

Our main campaign for 2009/2010 is to better protect children's rights in Leave to Remove and Internal Relocation cases. This was the subject of Early Day Motion 2059 in the 2008/9 Parliamentary Session, and Early Day Motion 373 in 2009/10. 58 MPs expressed their support, with many others agreeing to take the matter up directly with Jack Straw, Minister of Justice. A commitment has been given by Henry Bellingham MP, Shadow Justice Minister to review the court's current position on relocation and case law. In December 2009, Sir Bob Geldof gave his backing to this campaign by writing the foreword to our Parliamentary Briefing Report.

On 9th November, we presented our latest report into 'Family Law: Relocation and the Case for Reform' at the Palace of Westminster to an invited audience of MPs - as reported in Family Law Week.

In July 2011, we saw the first major change to relocation common law in 40 years.

We currently have two proposals for family law and legal reform on the Government's Your Freedom web site, and are backing more.

We Propose Reform

Read our response to the Government's Family Law Review consultation, published 25 September 2010

Also our response and recommendations following the publication of the Family Justice Review's interim report. Released in co-operation with the national charity Families Need Fathers.