Family Law: Lives with vs Spends time with

Lives with (verb/noun): family law term used to describe the parent who provides predominant care and with whom the child makes their home; the new ‘plain English’ way to describe ‘custody’.

 Spends time with (verb/noun): family law term used to describe the parent whom the child sees and spends time with but does not live with; the new ‘plain English’ way to describe ‘access’ and ‘contact’.

 The distinction between ‘live with’ and ‘spend time with’ has a special meaning in family law used to define the role of each parent in caring for a child. These terms relate to time spend with a child rather than responsibility (see our blog post here on the meaning of shared parental responsibility). Two parents may have shared parental responsibility for a child (meaning they both share the responsibility and right to make long-term decisions for the child) whilst the child still lives with one parent and spends time with the other parent.

 Parents may also decide that they wish to share time with the child in question equally. In this instance, the child may live with parent A in week A of every fortnight and live with parent B in week B of every fortnight.

 In essences, these terms are not intended to confuse parents as to their role and responsibilities to their child or children. Rather, these terms were introduced into family law as part of a push to re-orientate the family law system on the rights of the children to live with and spend time with their parents rather than the rights of the parents to have custody of or access to their children.

If you have a family law matter, concerns about how to get a family law property settlement or questions about family law and separation in NSW and want to find out more please do not hesitate to contact us on 9688 6023 or email us at info@franklegal.com.au.

 This article is provided to the reader for general information. It is not legal advice. It was written by Andrea Spencer & Emily Graham and edited by James Frank.

More from the blog:

Family Law: An introduction to our jargon guide

The what and why of family law parenting matter

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