Denise Lester, a family law specialist at solicitors Moss Beachley Mullem & Coleman, said legal aid was available for live care cases but this was not necessarily the situation for cases further down the line.
"Parents should have access to public funds to seek a proper investigation and exploration of the circumstances around each individual case," she said.
However, she added it would be a "Herculean task" for lawyers and courts to analyse each case on an individual basis.
The Court of Appeal will hear two test cases in March involving care proceedings and the now discredited Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy theory developed by Professor Sir Roy Meadow. These judgments will provide guidelines on how other cases should be treated.
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