The letter of instruction is the foundation of every assessment I do. It tells me what the court wants to know, and the quality of the questions directly affects the quality of the report. I've received over 225 letters of instruction from more than 100 different solicitors. Some produce reports that answer exactly what the court needs. Others produce reports that miss the point, not because the assessor wasn't competent, but because the questions didn't focus on the real issues. Getting the LOI right is one of the most cost-effective things a legal team can do.
Be specific with your questions
Vague questions produce vague reports. "Please assess the mother's parenting capacity" is a question, but it doesn't tell me much. Compare that with something like: "Please assess the mother's parenting capacity with particular reference to her ability to manage X's behavioural needs, her understanding of the risks posed by Mr Y, and whether she can sustain the changes she has made in the timescale available to Z." That's a question I can work with. It gives me focus. It tells me what the court is actually worried about. And it produces a report the court can use to make a decision.
The difference between those two questions is the difference between a report that covers everything in broad strokes and one that drills into the issues that matter. Every question in the LOI should be there for a reason, and that reason should be tied to something the court needs to resolve.
Name the framework
If you want a ParentAssess, say ParentAssess. If capacity to protect is a live issue, name CASP-R. If the court is concerned about domestic abuse risk, specify DVRIM. Naming the framework in the LOI ensures the assessment is structured around the right analytical tool from the outset, rather than leaving the assessor to guess what the court had in mind.
If you're unsure which framework fits, ask. A five-minute conversation before the LOI is drafted is better than discovering at the IRH that the assessment didn't cover what the court needed. I've seen cases where the wrong framework was assumed because the LOI didn't specify, and the resulting report had to be supplemented at additional cost and delay. That's avoidable.
What to include beyond the questions
The LOI should include a clear summary of the background. Not the full history, but enough for the assessor to understand the case before reading the bundle. Include who needs to be assessed, the names and dates of birth of all relevant parties, the current placement arrangements, and any specific people or professionals the court wants me to speak to. If there are time constraints, say so. If there are restrictions on contact or access, I need to know that upfront.
This might sound obvious, but I've received LOIs that name the adults and then leave me to work out from the bundle which children are subject to proceedings, where they're living, and who has parental responsibility. That's time I could be spending on the assessment itself. The clearer the LOI, the faster I can get to work.
The court bundle
Send the full bundle. Not a curated selection. If police disclosures, medical records, or previous assessments exist, include them. I've had cases where a critical document was missing from the bundle and only surfaced at the hearing. That's a problem for everyone. It undermines the assessment, creates unnecessary adjournments, and wastes the court's time.
If documents are still coming in, send what you have and update me. I'll confirm receipt and flag anything that appears to be missing. If I can see from the chronology that a particular disclosure or assessment should exist but isn't in the bundle, I'll ask for it straight away. It's far better to deal with that at the outset than to discover it two days before filing.
Common mistakes
The mistakes I see most often fall into a few categories. Questions that are too broad, like "Is this parent good enough?" Questions that assume the answer, like "Confirm that the mother cannot protect the children." Questions that ask me to make legal determinations I'm not qualified to make. And questions that duplicate what the local authority has already assessed without explaining what's changed or what's in dispute.
The best LOIs are drafted by solicitors who've thought about what the court actually needs from this assessment, rather than defaulting to a standard template. A good LOI doesn't just ask questions. It tells me what's in dispute, what the court is trying to decide, and what this assessment needs to add to the evidence the court already has.
A conversation before drafting
I'm always happy to have a brief discussion before the LOI is finalised. Sometimes five minutes on the phone clarifies the scope, identifies the right framework, and ensures the questions will produce an assessment the court can use. This isn't about me dictating the questions. It's about making sure we're both clear on what the assessment needs to cover, so the report is as useful as possible when it lands.
In my experience, the solicitors who pick up the phone before drafting the LOI tend to get the most out of the instruction. They also tend to be the ones whose clients are best served by the process, because the assessment is targeted from the start rather than trying to cover everything and ending up too thin on the issues that matter.
After the LOI is agreed
Once I receive the signed LOI and the court bundle, I'll provide an assessment plan and interview schedule within two business days. If I have any queries about the scope or the questions, I'll raise them immediately rather than interpreting them in a way that might not match what the court intended. Clear communication at the start produces better outcomes than assumptions that unravel at the hearing.
The LOI sets the terms of the assessment. Everything that follows, the interviews, the observations, the analysis, and the recommendations, flows from the questions the court has asked. Getting those questions right is worth every minute it takes.