Child Custody

La Haine

Hey there,

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this if you guys don't mind?

My Partner is divorced 3 years now and at the time the Judge ruled 50:50 in custody of their 2 children. So it has been 1 week on and 1 week off over and back between both parents since then.

One of the children is now 11 and decided they want to stay (live) with us permanently (though would obviously still want to continue their relationship with the other parent).

In all likliehood the other parent won't agree with this.

Are we looking at a load of trouble here?

Any thoughts on how best to proceed would be appreciated.

Thanks

lifeandtimes

Hi,

The obvious and easiest option would be to talk to the other parent, see if they are agreeable, if so draw up a mediated plan and make an application to vary the custody agreement to the new mediated plan.

If the other parent is not agreeable to this and this arrangement wants to be pursued then your partner would need to go and make an application for primary care and control of residency at the courts, they will then be given a date in court and both sides will have their chance to put forward their arguments.

Im not offering legal advice by the way, this information is all public knowledge

La Haine

I really appreciate that response and it's the route I wish my partner would take.
Unfortunately it's a very emotive issue and there's huge animosity between both parents.

My partner assumes that because the child wants to live with us permanently; that that's enough to make it happen – without going down the legal/court route.

I tried talking to my partner last night about getting legal advice but it didn't go down very well.

The other parent will be advised this weekend as to these 'new' arrangements.

Needless to say I'm dreading the fallout.

Thanks again.

lifeandtimes

La Haine wrote: »

I really appreciate that response and it's the route I wish my partner would take.
Unfortunately it's a very emotive issue and there's huge animosity between both parents.

My partner assumes that because the child wants to live with us permanently; that that's enough to make it happen – without going down the legal/court route.

I tried talking to my partner last night about getting legal advice but it didn't go down very well.

The other parent will be advised this weekend as to these 'new' arrangements.

Needless to say I'm dreading the fallout.

Thanks again.

The parts in bold is a dangerous issue, just because a child wants to live with someone doesn't trump the courts view on things that are in the best interest for the child and they might very well not agree at all.Also without going to court to change it, the original court order will always be in effect and if you partner moves their child in without the consent of the other parent they will be breaching the court order and will unfortunately face the consequences of that and it will not look good in the eyes of a judge.

I advise you to ensure you partner gets legal advise from a solicitor regarding this issue before they do anything because the way i see it if they just take it upon themselves to move the child in permanently it wont end well, especially for the child.

I hope the other parent is agreeable and things go smoothly for all involved

Little CuChulainn

If your partner tries to take full custody without going the legal route they risk losing all custody and their liberty.