Achieving a shared care arrangement for a father with Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Private Law (Child Arrangements Programme (CAP))

29 November 2023

Mike acted for a father with a diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder on an application for residence and contact. His client had been looking after the child, whose own mental health issues require 24/7 care, until the mother made an application for the child to be resident with her and the father to have contact only.

The client’s mental health issues made him particularly demanding, and Mike was advised at the outset that he had already sacked previous counsel.

His experience of working with clients with mental health issues helped him to build a rapport and manage his client’s behaviour in court. Following a lengthy contested hearing involving expert psychiatric reports, matters were settled on basis of a shared care arrangement which were more favourable to the father than he had anticipated.

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