Children’s Matters
Our expert family law solicitors resolve to bring child custody disputes to a quick and amicable conclusion, by using a friendly, professional, legal approach. In the event that disputes cannot be resolved via negotiation, our expert family law solicitors will be by your side to advise and assist you to make and progress your applications through the family law court.
What you should know about child custody
The Children Act 1989 replaced the terms ‘custody’ and ‘visitation’ with the terms Child Arrangement Order Live with and Child Arrangement Order Spend Time with.
Those with Parental Responsibility for a child may make an application for a Child Arrangements order without the permission of the court. Parental Responsibility is the rights, responsibilities, duties, powers and authority a parent of a child has in relation to the child and their property.
Parental Responsibility will automatically fall to the mother of a child. Whether a) father has Parental Responsibility depends on the circumstances including the date of birth of the child, among other things. If you are unsure of your position regarding Parental Responsibility do not hesitate to book an initial consultation with our team of experts to find out where you stand.
If you are not able to exercise your Parental Responsibility, for example, you have been prevented from spending time with your child, please contact us to discuss your options.
What does the law say?
The Orders that the Family Court can make regarding children called Child Arrangement Orders.
The types of Order that the Court can make are:
- With whom the child spends time
- With whom the child lives
- A prohibited steps order preventing certain action from being taken such as the child being removed from the country.
- Specific issue order allowing the Court to decide on issue which relates to the child that the separating couple cannot reach agreement upon, e.g. which school they go to.