Info on joint residency order please...

£Ronnie

Hi all,
Please can you help, my friend has just been handed some papers by her ex husband stating that she needs to attend court next month re a joint residency order for their 4yr old daughter. :mad:

Had anyone had any experience of this, and what it entails, my friend is not entitiled to legal aid, and is currently running up a large enough bill at the solicitors re thier divorce

(He currently has daughter to sleep over two nights a week, and has recently started paying £25/week maintainence, as friend mentioned CSA, they have been seperated 18 months)

Thanks in advance
Ronnie

mookiandco

At present your friend is the primary carer for the child and as such has the right to make both important and day to day decisions regarding her daughters care. Her husband only has parental responsibility for the child and therefore must be consulted only in respect of important decisions re: health, welfare, education, change of name etc.

Joint residency will give the husband a greater say in respect of day to day decisions.

the court used to think this was a good idea. child gets the best of both worlds and stays with both parents equally. unfortunately reality has turned out different.

the court is now more reluctant to award joint residency as in fact it can be more disruptive for the child being shunted back and forth. a 4 yr old child needs a permanent home. when a child starts school aged 5 and up a father is likely to get increased contact with a child. The court may view this child as too young, however it will depend on the maturity of the child.

the father is already getting far and above the usual contact arrangements (usually every other weekend and half holidays). if this is working then the court will be reluctant to change it.

i would advise having legal representation but as a court usually believes that parents know what is best for their child, if your friend is a confident speaker she can represent herself.

I am legally qualified and work in family law, so hope above helps.

The_Geek

I would say a shared residence order is appropriate for situations where the child stays with both parents frequently and regularly. Its a bit like saying the daughter will have two homes and two full parents.

A Residence order is where the child lives with one parent and the other has contact. In my opinion, the other parent legally becomes a second class parent. Not something many people realise until its too late.

Being a dad is much more than just being consulted on the major things such as changing names or medical issues. Its all the other things too. I guess the father wants to make sure he is able to play his full part in his daughter's upbringing.

Is there any reason why father should NOT be have shared residence? The status quo is that he already has his daughter two nights per week which I think is great for everyone. If he only had limited contact then I would say that a shared residence order would not be appropriate. But in my opinion, 2 nights per week is regular and substantial enough for shared residence to be appropriate. Just my opinion tho.

My advice is that if your friend is happy that father should still play an active role in his daughter's life then a shared residence order is nothing to be afraid of.

The_Geek

the father is already getting far and above the usual contact arrangements (usually every other weekend and half holidays).

I wonder how many fathers would jump at the chance of being given more time with their kids? The law is so heavily biased towards mum that fathers often just take what they can get.