Parenting and Child Arrangements

Parenting and Child Arrangements

Separation can often be a hard time for everyone involved, but it is especially difficult for children. At Barclay Churchill we understand the importance of balancing the interests of all parties when determining parenting arrangements. As specialist Family Lawyers, we offer professional and compassionate legal services to help you and your partner arrive at an arrangement that is in both of your interests, but most importantly, is in your child’s.

Parental responsibility is an idea that is central to family law, and more specifically, parenting arrangements. Until a child reaches the age of eighteen, each parent has parental responsibility for the child, which is not affected by separation.

Simply put, parental responsibility refers to all the duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which, by law, parents have in relation to their children. Where parents cannot agree about the arrangements for their children, the courts may impose orders relating to parental responsibilities. These are called ‘parental orders,’ and may be made in relation to where the child resides, how they communicate with the other parent and how much time the child will spend with each parent.

Before application can be made to the court for parenting orders, both parents are required to participate in pre-action procedures. This includes compulsory family dispute resolution, parenting plans and providing the other parent with written notice of the issues in dispute and the intention to start a court case.

Where an agreement cannot be reached after reasonable attempts to resolve the dispute through alternative means of resolution, an application for parental orders may be filed in court.

If you require assistance regarding parental arrangements or have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact our offices.