Sarah is a partner and the head of our Public Family Law Department.
Sarah qualified as a solicitor in 2012 and joined Machins in 2016. She became a partner in 2020. She is a member of the Law Society’s Children’s Panel and a member of Resolution.
Sarah specialises in children’s law. This includes representation of parents, family members, interveners, children’s guardians and direct representation of competent children, in such matters, including complex non-accidental injury of children, sexual abuse, death/murder of parent/family member, neglect and child assessment order applications.
Sarah has extensive experience of acting for children’s guardians, as well as vulnerable adults with learning difficulties who require the use of an intermediary. She also acts in matters before the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
She has been identified in the Legal 500 2024 as a Next Generation Partner.
It has been widely reported this week in the mainstream media that a couple had their divorce finalised in error following a mistake by solicitors which a senior judge has refused to overturn. The couple were separated and had applied for a divorce which had reached conditional order stage of the divorce. It would appear
Termination of Parental Responsibility is rarely made by the Court and only ever in exceptional circumstances. Following a recent private family law case acting for a mother who successfully obtained a termination of Parental Responsibility order to end the father’s Parental Responsibility, we asked Laura Martin-Read, Senior Associate Solicitor to explain what Parental Responsibility is
Millions of employees now have the right to request flexible working to determine where and when they work. The new rights are part of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill, which came into effect on 6 April. Flexible working is a broad term and can relate to working hours or pattern including part-time, term-time, flexi-time,
Jeremy Hunt delivered his Spring Budget on 6 March, and it will probably be his last major fiscal announcement ahead of this year’s anticipated general election. With a focus on reducing tax for the working population and helping parents, there were several announcements in the Budget that affect businesses and employees which I consider and
The Court of Appeal has set aside a court order that a girl should be returned to her mother rather than stay with foster parents. The girl was 18 months old and was referred to in court as X. Her mother had agreed to X being accommodated with foster parents when she was three days
The wishes of a 12-year-old boy were not enough to prevent him from being returned to his father, especially as it was likely that he had been unduly influenced by his mother. That was the decision of the Court of Appeal in a case involving a boy who was born in England and had lived
The 15-month-old daughter of a vulnerable mother who could not care for her has been placed in the care of the local authority so she can be adopted. The girl’s parents had been in a relationship since 2017. The mother was a vulnerable adult with learning difficulties who suffered from a syndrome that required a
A grandmother who failed to get permission to have her grandson live with her can now apply again because she’s moved to a bigger house. The case involved a two-year-old who was referred to in court as J. He had three siblings. The local authority became involved with the family before his birth due to
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a decision to remove three children from the care of their grandparents was mistaken and could cause them emotional harm. The children, aged six, four and three, had lived with their grandparents and maternal aunt since January 2019 after a somewhat chaotic lifestyle in their parents’ care. In
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a judge was wrong to prevent two grandparents adopting their 3-year-old grandson. The court heard that the child’s mother suffered from mental health problems. She had a long history of drug abuse and had criminal convictions for violent offences. She had had no contact with the child since