Divorce and children: how “conciliation hearings” can heal disagreements
Divorce cases that involve disagreements about children are often described as “difficult”. … Read More
Stephen Hopwood
Stephen Hopwood is the Head of the Children’s Department at Stowe Family Law. He joined the firm in 2006 and has been involved in aspects of child law for more than ten years.
With extensive experience representing clients in all aspects of child law, Stephen Hopwood has advanced the concept and practice of joint residence and has also been involved in cases with complex foreign elements.
Stephen Hopwood advises the media on children issues, and his department’s clients benefit from his excellent contacts with specialist counsel and psychologists. He is always happy to discuss a fresh approach with any new client and shows considerable skill when working on difficult cases, especially those that have become “bogged down” or “written off”.
Stephen has three young children and readily admits that fatherhood is as important to his role as qualifications and experience!
Career highlight:
Securing the return of a missing child. Stephen’s client was the maternal grandmother and the child’s mother was living a chaotic lifestyle. The boy was absent from school and the grandmother asked for residence of the child.
The situation deteriorated further and the child ran away from home. He contacted his grandmother to say that he would only return if he could stay with her and that the police would not take him back to his mother as had happened before.
After being told that the boy was missing, Stephen prepared an emergency application the same day and dashed across the country to have it heard by the judge – only to find that the judge had left for the day. Stephen persuaded the judge to hear the application over the phone at home. The judge granted the application and the court office made up the order. The grandmother and Stephen then telephoned the child, who wanted Stephen there as proof that the situation had been resolved.
The child returned to his grandmother, and continues to live with her. Stephen later spoke to the child’s absent father and successfully negotiated his agreement to the arrangement, to safeguard the position.
Latest Blog Posts
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Children & divorce: where do we go from here?
A survey of children’s experiences of divorce was published today. The Children Act 1989 is 20 years old today. … Read More
In the Media
Sunday Times
Foetal attraction. Read More
Yorkshire Post
Could this be the end of fatherhood as we know it? Read More