Child arrangement and child custody

Child arrangement order

A Child Arrangement Order is sought when two parents have had a dispute and the Courts need to decide the following things:

• Whom the child is to have contact with, and Whom the child is live with
• When the child is to spend time with the parties, and How much time the child is to spend with each party.

The legal term for this is ‘Child Custody.’ Find out more about Child Arrangement Orders in our article ‘Child Arrangement Order: A Step by Step Guide‘.

Child custody

During an amicable divorce/separation, the parents will usually share joint custody of the children. This usually means the child will spend half their time with one parent and the other half with another parent.

In some instances, an amicable divorce/separation does not happen, and parents cannot calmly decide the living arrangements/ contact of the child. In this case, a Child Arrangement Order is issued by the Court, to offer assistance to the parties in arranging custody of the child.

Under the umbrella of ‘Child Custody’ the terms ‘Access’ and ‘Custody’ need to be differentiated between.

‘Access’ is the process when couples must decide how much a child is to spend time with each party.

‘Custody’ is the term used to describe how parents are to make major decisions in the child’s life.

Who can apply for custody of a child?

Child Custody does not just refer to custody between parents. In some cases, a third party is present. (Grandparents or aunts/uncles) This could be for a variety of reasons, such as death of a parent or circumstances where the parents are unable to appropriately look after the child.

Who has custody of the child if the parents are not married?

When a child is born to parents who are not married, the mother automatically has parental responsibility and will be granted sole custody of the child. Unless the father has parental responsibility which is obtained when they are put on the birth certificate, the father will not be granted custody of the child.

Getting the advice you need

Here at SMQ Legal Services we have a team of professional child arrangement solicitors and child custody solicitors working within our Family Law team. For further details on legal matter and legal advice regarding your child arrangement or child custody matter, you can contact our family law team and speak with one of our child arrangement solicitors who will be able to give you all the information you may require.