Child Custody Laws
Child custody- despite the language of the Family Law Act changing from “custody” and “access” 20 years ago, these are still the most commonly used terms that people use when seeking legal advice about the problems that they have regarding security of arrangements for their children.
The language change from “custody” and “access” was to “residence” and “contact”. These terms were then changed again about 10 years ago to “live with” and “spend time and communicate with”.
The real issues in practice are:
Should the children split their time equally between their parents?
Should the children have a “home base” with one parent (where they spend most of their time) and spend time with the other parent on alternate weekends, holidays and other special days?
Should the children spend time with extended family members, such as grandparents, if one or both parents are preventing the children from spending time with them?
Are there any risk factors for the children’s welfare that need to be taken into account, such as illegal drug use, prescription drug abuse, or family violence?
If there are risk factors, how bad are they and what, if any, measures can be put in place so that the children can still spend time with their parents, but safely?
What will the effect of the children spending more or less time with a parent affect financial considerations such as child support, Centrelink benefits and property settlement?
If you need a “custody” problem solved, contact Freedom Law for a no obligation free consultation today.