According to the Office for National Statistics, one in three children, equivalent to 3.8 million, live without their father.
Nick Clegg and Iain Duncan Smith, the Welfare Secretary are understood to be supporting plans to put the courts under a legal duty to ensure that both fathers and mothers are given contact with children in divorce settlements. The Conservatives also pledged to introduce the reforms whilst in opposition. But, a government-commissioned report which reported published in November 2011 dropped a plan to enshrine equal access rights in law from its final 220-page report. Mr Norgrove concluded in his report that it would put too much pressure on judges to set out the exact length of time that each divorced parent should spend with their children and cited evidence from Australia which suggested children were more damaged when courts imposed time limits on contact with parents.
The Coalition Government is expected to respond to the Norgrove report by the end of January 2011 and reports are that proposals to change the law, drawing from the Family Justice Review panel are opposed by some in the cabinet.
The report also supports the current system whereby grandparents have to apply to court for permission to apply for a Contact Order. This would be contrary to pledges by senior officials and Nick Clegg from 2011 that grandparents would be given far greater rights.
In the meantime, courts continue to make orders based on the current law as set out in the Children Act and following precedents established by previous cases. The Children Act states that the court must make orders in the best interests of children and sets out a number of factors for the court to consider before making Residence or Contact orders. One of the factors the court must consider is the likely effect on children of any changes in their circumstances. In a traditional household this status-quo argument is often translated to mean that where the mum has been the main carer of the children, it would be least disruptive and therefore better, for this to continue.
However, shared residence orders are most certainly on the increase for two reasons: firstly, dads are increasingly sharing care of their children prior to the relationship breakdown; and secondly there is an increasing body of precedents establishing shared residence as a realistic alternative. A Shared Residence Order does not necessarily divide children’s time equally between their parents, as this may be too disruptive to be in the best interests of the particular child whose welfare the court is considering, but it does serve to signify that a father’s role in his child’s life is considered as important as the mother’s. In the words of Tim Loughton, the Children’s Minister: “All the evidence tells us that children genuinely benefit from a relationship with both parents, with the potential to make different contributions to their child’s development.”
I have had many cases in which I have acted for dads devastated by the breakdown of their relationship, compounded by the loss of their day to day contact with their children and have watched developments in this area of law keenly for some time now. For a more detailed article from me on shared residence follow this link or contact Beth Woodward. All the lawyers in our family law team are experienced in the law relating to children so please contact one of the family team in our offices in Harpenden, Luton, Milton Keynes or Northampton.
