Children

Parental separation is a major event in a child’s life. Whether it is also a traumatic event that affects the child in the future depends greatly on how the parents manage the process of change.

Often parents can agree what the arrangements for their child(ren) should be.  When agreement is not possible we can help with advice about the options that are available, which may include mediation or negotiations between solicitors. If necessary we can advise on an application to the Court, including an urgent application if this is needed, to try to minimise the disruption to the arrangements for your child(ren)’s care. A Court can make a number of orders including:

• A residence order, which states who a child should live with.
• A shared residence order, which states how the care of a child is shared between two parents.
• A contact order, which sets out the time that a child spends with the parent they don’t live with.
• A specific issue or prohibited steps order to deal with a particular issue (e.g. choice of school or medical treatment).
• A parental responsibility order for a father or step parent who does not have automatic legal responsibility for a child.

We can help you try and anticipate some of the difficulties that there may be in making arrangements. What are reasonable arrangements? How should you deal with Christmas and birthdays? Should the children spend time with a parent’s new partner? We can also advise about registering a child’s birth, changing a child’s name and maintenance for children.

More detailed information about some of the areas of law that we deal with can be found in the information sheets that we have prepared. Please click on the link below:

Parental Responsibility (PDF)