Jun 08, 2016
A family law parenting negotiation may end up feeling like an argument between whether the children are ‘mine’ or ‘yours’. However, the Courts have a presumption of shared and equal parental responsibility.
Whether you were married or in a de facto relationship, the Court will consider the children of your relationship the children of BOTH parents.
Parental responsibility is concerned with who cares for and is responsible for the children of the relationship. It also involves who makes the important decisions in the child’s life. Each parent is presumed to have equal responsibility for the child unless the Court makes an Order stating otherwise. The Court will only make an Order against shared parental responsibility if it is not in the child’s best interests e.g. there has been abuse or domestic violence.
In short, this means that the parents need to consult each other about the major long term issues affecting their child. Long term issues such as these are usually dealt with in Family law Parenting Orders and may include issues such as education, religion, health, the child’s name and changes to the living arrangements of the child. Further it may be important to consider whether other family members such as grandparents want to have contact and care of the children in some capacity as well.
The presumption of shared parental responsibility and considerations of the best interests of the child effectively mean that the children should not be thought of as ‘yours’ or ‘mine’ but ‘ours’.
If you have a family law parenting matter or concerns on this topic or on family law generally or 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 Emily Graham & Andrea Spencer and edited by James Frank.
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