Court rules girl, 5, should live with dead mother's friend instead of estranged father

A man in England has lost a court fight over his five-year-old daughter following the death of his estranged partner.

Two Court of Appeal judges have ruled that the little girl should not move to live with her father but should instead be looked after by her mother’s best friend.

Judges heard that the little girl and her mother, who had died recently following an illness, had been living with the female friend in Cornwall for nearly a year.

The man, who lives in Suffolk, said his daughter should live with him and his new partner following her mother’s death.

But the friend said the little girl should live with her and stay where she was.

Lord Justice Laws and Lady Justice King today ruled against the man after a Court of Appeal hearing in London.

They said the little girl could not be identified.

Lawyers for the friend had asked the Court of Appeal to intervene after a family court judge had ruled that the little girl should live with her father following a private hearing in Truro, Cornwall. They said the “father’s biological link” had been the “sole reason” behind that decision.

Appeal judges were told that the friend had no objection to the little girl having regular contact with her father and his new partner.

Barrister Clare Renton, for the friend, told the appeal court that the man and the girl’s mother had separated more than three years ago.

She said relations between them had been “hostile”, said the man had not seen his daughter between late 2012 and late 2014 and described him as a “remote” figure in the little girl’s life.

The friend had been the little girl’s “secondary attachment figure” – and the mother, whose health had been deteriorating, had wanted her daughter to live with her friend, she said.

“A five-year-old child cannot draw support from a couple she barely knows,” she added.

“Even if the child is repeatedly told that he is her father and if, as I am sure is true, the father is doing his very best.”

She went on: “There is no need to subject this child to the ordeal of removing her from everything with which she is familiar.”

The father, who represented himself and sat with his new partner in court, disagreed.

He said he was “not at all” a “remote figure” in his daughter’s life – and said she had a right to be brought up by him.

“There is great emphasis on the status quo – if only it was that easy,” he said.

“For a child to lose her mother and then not have her father would be hugely detrimental.”

He indicated that he had planned to move to Cornwall in the short term so that the little girl could stay at school and continue her normal activities.

Lord Justice Laws and Lady Justice King allowed the friend’s appeal after analysing argument from both sides.

The judges said they would outline reasons for their decision at a later date.