The best interests of the children is the paramount consideration for a court in parenting matters.
Indeed it is the children who have rights in parenting matters, not the parents as most people would expect. A child has the right to be cared for by the child’s parents, and to be protected from harm.
Better outcomes for the long term development of children are often reached by agreement, and processes under the Family Law Act that require mediation as a first step in the absence of urgency, violence and some other limited factors.
If agreement cannot be reached, then a court will consider a number of factors, including:
- the benefits to a child in having a meaningful relationship with both of the child’s parents
- protection from family violence
- the relationships of the child with parents, siblings, grandparents and others concerned in the care of the child
- the capacity of the parents to provide care
- the maturity, sex, lifestyle and background of the parents and the children
Decision-making for children no longer has the assumptions it did in the past and what is best for the children will determine whether both or just one parent makes the major decisions regarding.
There have also been recent changes which place a focus upon coercive and controlling behaviour in relationships and how that can impact parenting arrangements and decision-making.
The court follows a specific pathway to reach decisions in parenting matters and who makes decisions regarding the child. This can often be difficult as it involves a number of attendances at court and also upon experts such as social workers and psychologists to prepare independent material about the children.
Our commitment is to help you through this process and to show you how it works because the more you know about the process and how decisions are made, the easier the process becomes.