Our Family Law team undertakes work in all aspects of relationship breakdown and is here to help and provide you with the highest quality of service.
As far as the law is concerned , when a relationship breaks down and there are children involved, the best people to sort out future arrangements for the children are their parents.
There are no set rules as to what arrangements have to be put in place as every family’s situation is unique.
Children of failed relationships have the right to grow up maintaining a relationship with both of their parents, unless to do so would put them at risk of significant harm.
If the parents of a child, or children, are married at the time of their birth then both parents automatically have parental responsibility for them.
Parental responsibility (PR) is defined as all the legal rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority a parent ( or a person acting in the capacity of a parent) has for a child.
If parents are unmarried, mother will automatically have PR and father will too, provided he is named on the child’s Birth Certificate.
A father who does not have PR can either be granted this by agreement with the mother or under an order of the court.
Major decisions relating to education, medical treatment or religious upbringing require the agreement of both parents with PR Failure to agree on such important decisions can be resolved by the court, subject to one parent making an application for an order under s.8 Children Act 1989.
Arrangements for children can be dealt with in a number of ways. This can be by direct communication between the parents, through solicitors negotiating on their behalf, entering into a parenting plan, an order of the court by consent/agreement, mediation, arbitration or ultimately court proceedings, although court proceedings should always be regarded as a last resort
because the final decision, in most cases, will be determined by a Judge and not by the parents themselves.
Under s.8 Children Act 1989 the court can make a number of different orders
Child Arrangements Order
Specifies with which parent a child or children will live and how much time they will spend with the other, non-resident, parent.
Specific Issue Order
This type of order will decide specific matters which are disputed between the parents such as whether they should be allowed to travel abroad with one parent for a holiday or which school a child should attend.
Prohibited Steps Order
This type of order stops a parent from acting in a particular way such as relocating to another country or moving – this type of order will decide how much time a child or children spend with
each parent and If emergency protection of a child is required court proceedings can be taken
immediately.

