Shared Care Arrangements Family Law
It`s a common misconception that shared custody means a 50/50 waste of time between the child`s mother and father when they separate, but this is not the case. – Shared custody actually means that the child spends time with each parent, and the days or hours to spend with each parent are set out in a court order if the parents cannot agree. If parents separate, issues related to future childcare arrangements may be among the most problematic issues to be resolved. Difficulties in the relationship of parents and disagreements over parenting styles can lead to prolonged and bitter court battles over where children should live and how much time they should spend with each parent. Another factor in these disputes is that parents must continue to raise children long after the court proceedings have ended, and lawyers and judges have moved on to other cases. Those who practice in this area have long tried to ask themselves how to deal with such cases so that parents continue to be parents after their day in court and minimize the possibility that the case will come back to court due to unresolved issues or non-compliance with the final order. Shared host parent schedules vary and can be tailored to your family. The following planning methods are most common in joint personal care arrangements: The recent Court of Appeal case L v. F^ highlights the problems faced by parents, judges and family law practitioners when it comes to disputes over where a child should live and how much time the child should spend with each parent. In the present case, it was a request by the mother to move with her child to Italy or, if that is not possible, to order the child to live with her and to spend time with the father five days every two weeks and half of the school holidays. The trial judge ordered that the child remain in England and live with both parents (a joint custody order), with the child`s time divided equally between the parents. The mother appealed this decision and the Supreme Court ruled in her favour. The father appealed this decision, and the Court of Appeal reversed the Supreme Court`s decision and reinstated the original order.
In this way, the Court of Appeal attempted, among other things, to provide information on joint care. The decision confirmed that joint care may also be appropriate in situations where the parental relationship is poor and it is not possible to communicate effectively between parents. While equal time sharing does not result from a shared custody arrangement, this case confirms that equal shared custody may be an appropriate method to neutralize the possibility of one parent trying to gain the upper hand over the other and exert control over the situation, which is inevitably to the detriment of the child. The best interests of the child in these cases are always the supreme concern of the court, but this cannot be properly assessed without taking into account the relationship between the parents. In this case, the court did not prescribe a presumption of joint care, but it appears to have confirmed that in various cases it is an appropriate remedy. So when are the courts ready to make shared care orders? Mediation is a cost-effective way to find solutions outside the justice system, and it is particularly suitable for solving problems with children. For this reason, it is mandatory for anyone who wishes to apply to the court for an arrangement order for a child to first attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) (with a few exceptions). Our support page offers a wealth of resources for parents to help them become parents together and feed their child. It is hoped that the guidelines of this decision will help those involved in disputes involving children to better understand the importance for both parents to remain actively involved in a child`s life to the extent possible. Moreover, asserting that joint care is an appropriate solution, even in bitter disputes between parents, can help further reduce the sense of a struggle between parents that ultimately leads to a “winner” and a “loser” in children`s proceedings […].