Always on
This project successfully funded on 1st July 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
LOVE V LAW: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT A SECRET SCANDAL
London, Greater London, United Kingdom
Aim
Exposing the multi billion pound family court scandal, silencing parents, destroying families, traumatising children.
Millions of loving parents and grandparents erased. Children traumatised. A system* that profits from pain — a national scandal, a global crisis, and a multi-billion-pound industry built on secrecy, silence, and suffering.
No one knows what we've been through, no one knows how we feel, how our children feel, we are not designed to deal with the loss of living loved ones, and we've been silenced, many to the point of death. This is the biggest scandal we have not seen, directly affecting approximately 8 million people in the UK alone and 100 million globally.
“The family law under which we endure will be seen as barbaric... abusive, neglectful, harmful... It is beyond scrutiny or criticism, and like a secret society... judges, lawyers, and care agencies protect each others’ backs.” — Sir Bob Geldof, 2009
This is more than just a film; it's a campaign for reform; it’s an opportunity for victims of this system—mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, and relatives—to have their voices heard and to drive meaningful change. There's no more time for excuses or blame; the system is broken and appears to be broken by design. Preventing a child from seeing a loving and capable parent and family member is a form of emotional abuse to the child and domestic abuse against the parent/relative. Why, as a society, do we allow this to continue?
Just £5 could help us amplify the truth through this documentary — and give voice to those who've endured the unimaginable and protect more people form suffering this controlled form of abuse.
WHEN THE SYSTEM FAILS, CHILDREN PAY THE PRICE
Archie Spriggs. Sara Sharif. The names change — but the courts learn nothing. Both children were tragically murdered after repeated concerns were raised — yet the systems meant to protect them failed. These were not isolated tragedies just two tragic stories of the millions over the last 4 decades. They happened under the watchful eye of family law, where red flags were missed, risks underestimated, and accountability absent.
How many more children must we lose before the silence breaks?
Every day, 200 children in the UK lose meaningful contact with a parent — not because of proven harm, but because of a system that rewards conflict, dismisses coercive control, and profits from prolonged trauma and seperation.
"I'm in my 40s. I lost my dad for 30 years, all because of a lie, I'm broken. My career and life are on hold." – Adult child of alienation
"I haven't seen my daughter in 8 years. The court laughed when I cried." – Mother
"The judge said false allegations were just 'part of the process'." – Father
"We helped raise them. Now we’re erased from their life — like we never existed." – Grandparent
Parental alienation (emotional child abuse + coercive controlling behaviour): one of the most devastating — and often dismissed — forms of emotional abuse. Every year, thousands of children are psychologically manipulated to reject one parent, often with the courts’ silent permission. This documentary shines a light on how parental alienation has become normalised within the system — and why professionals, lawmakers, and judges are failing to protect children’s right to love both parents.
This is trauma on a national scale, on par with the Post Office cover-up. The longer we deny it, the more complicit we all become.
MEET THE FILMMAKER
Thank you for being here. My name is Stephen Carpenter, the film maker behind LOVE V LAW. I’ve spent the last seven years trapped within and as such decided to investigate the UK’s secretive family court system. Not by choice — but because I was thrown into it, simply trying to give my children their wish to see me.
What followed left me broken, broke, sometimes homeless — and, like millions of others, alienated from my children.
After years of hearings, appeals, letters to Lords, Ladies, and so-called gentlemen, judicial complaints dismissed without due process — I finally understood: this system isn’t just broken. It appears to be broken by design. Millions of others have reached the same conclusion, nearly 500,000 petitioned for change in one year, grown children, mothers, fathers, grandparents and relatives—ignored
EVERYONE IS AT RISK
Alongside a team of researchers, campaigners, victims, and professionals, we’ve met hundreds of thousands of people failed by this system — not just fathers, but increasingly mothers, children, and grandparents. Some have been driven to suicide. This isn’t just about dads’ rights. It’s about a system that exploits everyone — especially children.
MEET OUR PRESENTER: NAWAL HOUGHTON
Nawal Houghton, a trained lawyer and divorce coach, has seen the devastation and silencing that victims face. She joined this project to help expose the truth and fight for a system that protects families — not profits from their pain.
"I’ve seen first-hand the emotional devastation, systemic failures, and silencing this film highlights. I want to help challenge a system that too often protects abusers, and advocate for a future where families — especially children — are genuinely safeguarded, not exploited."
WHAT WE’RE MAKING
LOVE V LAW is a feature-length documentary — part investigation, part exposé — featuring real victims, whistleblowers, and evidence of institutional failure.
It lays bare how a secretive system profits from family breakdown, hides behind legal protocol, and silences those trying to speak out.
We’ve done all of this with no funding — only belief. Now, we need your help to:
- Finish production
- Protect contributors
- Amplify this truth across the UK and beyond
We’ve come this far on belief alone. Now we need your help to finish production, protect contributors, and bring this story to the world.
WATCH THE LONGER TRAILER
A GLOBAL SCANDAL
This documentary isn’t just about the UK, its a global crisis. We’re already working with families and campaigners across borders in Australia, Ireland, the US, and Canada. The same failures. The same cover-ups. The same pain — exported worldwide.
THE COST OF INACTION
This isn’t just a “family matter.” It’s institutionalised harm.
- Family lawyers in the UK alone generate £1.4 billion a year
- Court backlogs now exceed 100,000 cases
- The cost of broken families to the public purse is over £44 billion annually
False allegations, delays, and coercive control are routinely ignored. Loving parents are financially drained, traumatised, and criminalised — while the governments stay silent.
Some Mothers. Fathers. Grandparents. Aunts. Uncles. Cousins. Carers. And always — children. All silenced. All exploited. No one is immune.
Over 500,000 people signed petitions in one year alone. One campaign gathered nearly 300,000 signatures. Still, no change.
SYSTEMIC FAILURE — OR SYSTEMIC DESIGN?
Reports of collusion, corruption, and misconduct are rising — not just from parents, but from insiders.
The agencies involved include:
- The Family Court Judiciary
- CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service)
- CMS (Child Maintenance Service)
- Social services & police
- The SRA, Legal Ombudsman, and Resolution (Regulation)
- Court-appointed experts with conflicts of interest
- Court-appointed experts and barristers with undisclosed conflicts of interest
These institutions form a self-regulating ecosystem — punishing whistleblowers (until now), enabling abuse, and hiding behind secrecy.
WHY THIS FILM MATTERS
The public has been kept in the dark. Victims have been silenced for decades. This isn’t about Mothers v Fathers. It’s about Truth v Power.
We want to:
- Warn future families
- Reform institutions
- Demand accountability
- Create a permanent public record
- Protect children and parents from further harm
WHAT YOUR SUPPORT FUNDS
Even £5 helps us:
- Film more victims, experts, and whistleblowers
- Edit and produce the full documentary
- Ensure legal compliance and protection
- Run outreach campaigns to press, Parliament, and film festivals
- Cover historical costs of over 10,000+ unpaid hours of research and advocacy
The cost of a coffee can help change lives.
LEGAL REFORM & SYSTEMIC CHANGE
Your support will also help fund:
- A Justice Select Committee submission for an urgent inquiry into UK family court failures
- Transparency Order applications to release key evidence hidden behind redactions
- Campaigns for legislative change including:
+ Urgent hearings within 14 days if contact is cut
+ One judge per family for consistency
+ Penalties for false allegations
+ Abuse cases moved to criminal courts
+ Overhaul of CAFCASS and social services
+ Training on coercive/emotional abuse for teachers, police, and social workers
+ Fair retrials for refused appeals
+ An end to CMS policies that incentivise family breakdown — including a complete overhaul of calculations and accountability
+ Shared parenting as the starting point — unless proven safeguarding risks exist
We have presented some of these points to Andrew McFarlane President of the Family Division but have been ignored.
By backing this campaign, you’re not just funding a film — you will be driving legal and systemic change.
IF YOU CAN’T DONATE
You can still help us:
- Share this campaign with your network
- Use the hashtag #LoveVLaw
- Introduce us to whistleblowers, lawyers, funders, and journalists
- Send your own story: we want to hear from you
We want to hear from:
- Alienated children (18+)
- Parents failed by court system or police with evidence.
- Grandparents erased from children's lives
- Whistleblowers (you can contact our partner charity Protect for advice)
- Journalists blocked from publishing the truth.
What Your Support Funds (Even £5!):
- Filming & Production – Victims, experts, interviews
- Post-Production – Editing, visuals, graphics
- Legal Compliance – Protecting contributors
- Marketing & Outreach – Global push, festivals, media
- Admin – Research, Travel, crew, studio,
- Historical Costs – 6+ years, 10,000+ hours of unpaid work
Are you a funder, philanthropist, or organisation interested in supporting the campaign at scale or collaborating as a sponsor or strategic partner? We welcome aligned partnerships that help us bring this urgent documentary to life and ensure maximum impact.
If you or someone you know might be interested in investing £2,500 or more to help us get to the next stage of production, please do get in touch — we’d love to have a conversation. No pressure at all — just heartfelt thanks for whatever you’ve already given.
Email: contact @ lovevlaw.com
FINAL NOTE
This is a not-for-profit campaign. All funds are used solely to complete the documentary and support our legal reform work. We are not a registered charity, and this campaign does not offer equity or financial return.
If your content has been used and you wish to be credited or removed, contact us at contact @ lovevlaw.com and we will respond promptly.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made