Court hearings (welfare stage?)

[Only_Grandparents]

Hi,

I've put another post on the child protection forum covering the horrible background to our story so I won't repeat it all again.

However, we are getting to the stage where the final Finding of Fact hearing is being discussed. I was wondering what the process will be with regards to the judgement and then the placement of the grandchildren.

If the parents are found to be responsible for the N.A.I then obviously the court are going to look to remove the grandchildren from their care permanently. I presume the judge informs every one of his judgement straight away at the end of the fact finding hearing or does he deliberate for a few days first and re-convene another hearing to go through the judgement?

Once he has made his judgement regarding the N.A.I, what happens next. Is there a separate court hearing just for the "welfare stage". Do all parties have a chance to prepare & pitch their statements for contesting residency orders, SGOs, etc.

Are there any further reports, assessments, evidence, etc that can be requested / submitted specifically for this welfare stage.

Basically, we don't know what course of action to take with the grandchildren until we find out what happens in the Finding of Fact. However, we may wish to contest things and therefore may want to introduce further position statements, etc specifically for residency, etc.

Many thanks all!