26th June 2012
I recently spent several hours in the Circuit Court
waiting for my family law case to come on for hearing. The case was not reached
and it has been put back, probably for about another six months. That however
is another story.
One of the central issues in this case concerned the
future of a 4-year-old boy.
I act for the father, who, in order to be closer to
his son and to play a full part in his upbringing, sold his house in Dublin
city and rented accommodation within a few minutes of his ex partner’s house so
he could be nearby and could spend as much time as possible with his son. He is
extraordinarily committed to his son and believes that his main purpose in life
is to successfully bring up his son and give him every opportunity he can in
life.
At the moment he has one overnight a week with his
son and he is fighting for full joint custody. The very experienced barrister
on the other side said to me during negotiations “if your client wants joint
parenting, he will have to get an expert’s report because he won’t get it from
this judge”. She went on to say that joint parenting was not appropriate
because the child “is only four years old”.
This is a major problem for me in many cases where I
am acting for a father looking for access to a young child. The argument is
often made that the child is too young to spend prolonged periods of time with
his father. I do not think I have ever heard the argument the other way round.
A child cannot spend too much time with his mother but apparently he can spend
too much time with his father. The argument that the mother or her barrister
will often make is that a young child needs structure in his/her life and the
constant toing and froing between mother and father would be disruptive. I have
absolutely no time whatsoever for this argument but I have to say I am
developing a fascination with it because it is used so many times in family law
cases where the father is looking for contact with a child and over the coming
weeks therefore I intend to carry out some research to see if there is any
merit in this particular argument.
Watch this space.
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When considering access - the child's developmental stage should guide the amount time allowed for the non-primary carer. The following time is recommended by child development experts: newborns (small amount of time with primary carer present), 18 months – 2 years (can slowly progress to overnight stays), school age children (split care in cycles from 2-7 days depending on their age) and teenagers (let them relax into their environment and develop their own routine). More: Family & The Law (Family Law Portal)
ReplyDeleteIn divorce cases, there are some restriction for father to meet their child like any divorced father can meet their child in a public place for few times. This article has given the best information about it, I really appreciate you for sharing this article.
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