Divorce & Family - Children
Disputes concerning where children should live and how often they should see their other parent are not limited to the time surrounding a relationship breakdown. Such difficulties can occur at any point until your children become adults.
Often, it can be difficult to agree decisions relating to your children. Our family law team is sensitive to these issues and has many years' experience in helping parents to resolve their disputes by negotiating workable solutions that are in the best possible interests of the children.
The Court recognises that parents are best placed to make decisions about their families and will only intervene if an application is made to it by either parent. Above everything else, the welfare of the children is the Court’s paramount consideration.
The Court can make different types of orders in respect of a child as follows:
- Residence Order – to decide where a child shall live
- Contact Order – to decide when and how often a child shall see the other parent
- Prohibited Steps Order – to prevent a certain decision in relation to the child being taken e,g taking the child out of the country, undertaking certain medical treatment, changing the child's school or changing the child's name.
- Specific Issue Order - permit a particular decision/action in relation to a child.
We can advise on issues of parental responsibility including drafting of parental responsibility agreements and difficulties which arise in exercising that responsibility. These can include issues over schooling, religious upbringing and your child's health. All of these matters are dealt with sensitively and pragmatically with a view to obtaining the best outcome with the least upset to all concerned.
As well as issues concerning child welfare, we can assist you in connection with financial claims for your children. Child maintenance is usually dealt with either by agreement or through the Child Support Agency (CSA). The CSA refers to parents with care (ie the main carer for the children) and to non resident parents (ie the parent who does not normally live with the children). We can advise on applications for child maintenance and assist in negotiations to reach child maintenance agreements on divorce/dissolution or separation.
We can also advise you on making applications to the Court for a number of Orders for financial provision. For example payment of school fees, property adjustment, lump sum payments, and Income Orders.
