The Family Justice Review has recommended that there should not be a presumption of shared care of children if parents separate. The reasoning behind this is nicely summarised in this quote from David Norgrove, the chairman of an official review on family justice:

“The law cannot state a presumption of any kind without incurring unacceptable risk of damage to children. Progress depends on a general social expectation of the full involvement of both parents in the lives of their children before separation, not on changes in the law.”

However, the government appear to be ignoring the expert recommendations and are reporting to be looking to change the law so that parents have a legal right to have contact with a child after separation. I have concerns about this as surely it should be the rights of the child that are the main focus when determining the arrangements for their upbringing?

The law as it stands at the moment ensures that the child’s interests take priority and are paramount when deciding the arrangements for their upbringing if their parents separate.  

However, the arrangements at the moment, if determined by the Court, are defined within “Residence Orders” or “Contact Orders”. I don’t think that having these types of labels is particularly helpful for anyone and can often cause a lot of tension between parents and drive them apart when really they need to be working together for their children’s sake.

I think a far more effective way of dealing with the arrangements could be to scrap these types of Orders altogether and replace it with some kind of “Parenting Order”, defining the parenting arrangements for the child. The focus could then be on the practical issues of the upbringing of the child. There should be a clear emphasis on parents trying to work together, outside of the court process, to agree a parenting plan between themselves, with help or guidance from specialist family lawyers when necessary, or at mediation.

Currently if a case goes to Court a Judge can order for parents to attend a Parenting Information Programme. The Programme is designed to inform parents who are going through the separation process of how their actions could impact upon their children and aims to help reduce the conflict that the children may see or hear. From my experience parents who attend this Programme find it very beneficial. I think it would however be more beneficial if there was also funding and facilities made available for parents to attend the course at the start of any separation, this could help parents see the importance of working together from the outset, as by the time some parents get to Court the damage has already been done which can result in it being very difficult to make future arrangements for the child’s upbringing.

The Family Team at Mayo Wynne Baxterhas particular expertise in dealing with family issues involving children and also has a specialist Resolution approved Mediator on hand to help parents work together to reach an agreement to ensure their children’s interests can be met even.

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