Your Children Deserve only The Best!
Children and Childcare Arrangements
Sometimes relationships don’t work out and lead to separation and/or divorce.
Unfortunately, this inevitably causes distress to everyone involved, but can especially cause long-term instability in the lives of the children.
However, solutions do exist that help you to overcome the challenges presented to you and your children in the painful event that your relationship with your spouse or partner has broken down.
We always recommend to our clients and potential clients to seek outside help in such matters, especially the help of organisations trained for the same or Family Law specialists to ensure that your children grow up to be value-adding, happy and productive global citizens.
Overview:
In the event of the separation of spouses or partners, it is important to make the necessary arrangements and agreements to ensure that your children remain relatively unaffected, and the parents continue to maintain good relationships with their children.
The idea is to come together and plan for the present, but also for the future, ensuring that not only do your lives continue, but also that your children/s lives are also accounted for.
At BIAAP, our approach – drawn from a wealth of experience – is to ensure that our advice is not only practical, but also empathetic to the current changes to your life. We are aware how disappointing such events can be and do our very best to represent the interests of you, your former spouse or partner and most importantly your children.
We take special care to understand all the important circumstances of your family so that a customised solution can be created for the foreseeable future.
Furthermore, we are involved with Resolution – an organisation whose members follow the Code of Practice of a non-confrontational approach to family concerns.
We always advocate for solutions whereby an amicable solution can be reached between the parties involved to ensure swifter resolution as compared to involving the Courts.
Additional Information:
Please continue reading for some additional information. This information is not finite, and we always advise our clients and potential clients to seek the counsel of a legal expert in such delicate and complicated matters.
Our team of Childcare Solicitors can advise you on all matters related to making Childcare Arrangements, including:
Some Notes:
When the court is considering any matters concerning the upbringing of a child, the child’s welfare is the paramount consideration.
When filing for divorce, a Statement of Arrangements must also be submitted to the court. This outlines the care arrangements you and your partner have agreed to for your children.
Knowing that amicably agreed childcare arrangements are more likely to stick and thus provide stability for the children, the judiciary will only get involved in sorting out child arrangements as a last resort.
Disputes Surrounding Child Care Arrangements
If you cannot agree with your estranged spouse on arrangements for your children, you will come under the Child Arrangements Programme.
This programme, introduced in 2014, removes the terms ‘custody’ and ‘access’ and replaces them with a ‘child arrangement order.’ It is designed to assist families to reach safe and child-focused agreements for their child, where possible outside the court setting.
If parents/families are unable to reach an agreement, and a court application is made, the Child Arrangement Programme encourages swift resolution of the dispute through the Court.
The Role of Mediation in a Child Care Arrangement Dispute
If you are unable to agree on living arrangements for your children, the court will ask you both to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) to see if mediation proceedings will help you reach an agreement.
There are some situations where couples are exempt from attending a MIAM, for example, if there is a history of violence and/or abuse in the relationship.
During mediation, it is important for the welfare of your children to work with the Mediator to decide important matters such as:
Mediation has proven to be an effective process, allowing many couples to work out arrangements for their children between themselves, without the stress and expense of having to go to court.
Our Approach to Child Arrangement Matters
We fully believe that in cases of separation and divorce, the child’s welfare is paramount. By dealing with cases sensitively, but firmly, we have proven time and again that our Family Law team can bring estranged couples together in an amicable way to work out the best arrangements for their children.
Our Family Solicitors strive to, where possible, negotiate arrangements that not only meet the needs of the children, but also provide both parents with the means to adjust to their new situation, without undue disturbance.
Normally, we succeed in achieving this through negotiation and/or mediation. But sometimes, parties cannot or should not (due to factors such as domestic violence) reach agreement through these methods, and litigation is inevitable.
If this is the case, we can represent you on an application for a Child Arrangements Order, which is made by the court.
A Child Arrangement Order may include restrictions on your child being removed from the UK if you are concerned that your partner may try and abduct them. If there has been a history of violence and/or abuse in the relationship, the Child Arrangement Order may make provisions for any contact to be made under the supervision of a third party.
We will ensure both you and your children’s voices are heard by the judge and that proceedings are run in a calm, respectful manner.
Parents trust us to assist them with working out arrangements for the care and comfort of their children; a responsibility we take very seriously.
By approaching each case in a customised manner, we ensure every family who comes to us feels fully supported throughout the process.
This website is for informational purposes only and does not contain legal advice. As the law is subject to changes and updates, please do not act and/or refrain from acting based on anything you read on this site. Always seek legal assistance when required from a accredited and practicing professional i.e. solicitors. BIAAP (Brightway Immigration and Asylum Practitioners) is subject to and upholds the laws of the United Kingdom and adheres to the code of conduct required by our profession.