Parents sometimes cannot agree about who the child should live with ("residence"); or - if they can agree on where the child should live - what should happen about the child seeing the other parent ("contact").
It is usually best if parents can reach agreement without going to court, and we can help with this. Mediation or a collaborative approach may work. However, there may be good reasons why agreement is not reached. If that happens, you can apply to the family courts for a residence order, or for a contact order. Legal aid (now called "public funding") may be available.
Even if a case has to go to the family courts, every effort will still be made to help parents reach agreement. Sometimes this will be informal, with judges, lawyers and Cafcass officers encouraging parents to find a way forward with their family law problems. The process can also be formalised into an "in court" conciliation process, with special hearings set up to explore possible agreement (and to which children over 9 are invited).
If we spilt up, what happens about our children?
