Parenting Australia

Family Separation and Parenting Arrangments

One of the immediate concerns when parents separate is to sort out parenting arrangements for their children. Some parents are able to resolve these issues through discussions as between themselves, whereas other parents may need the assistance of lawyers, mediators, and/or a child consultant.

Usually after a separation occurs, the last issue that parents seek to address is applying for a divorce. As married couples need to wait for 12 months after separation before an Application for Divorce can be lodged in a Court, this is obviously not a priority.

Post separation parenting arrangements can go through several different phases, depending upon the ages of the children, and their stage of development. It can also be influenced by where the parents are living, which can in turn be influenced by whether there is to be any financial settlement, and if so, where the parents are both likely to be living after a financial settlement.

The things that are most important post separation, in most cases, is promoting stability and regularity for the children, and maintaining their relationship with both parents.

Whilst the 2006 changes to the Family Law Act introduced the concept of equal shared parental responsibility, there has been some misunderstanding in parts of society as to what this actually means. Equal shared parental responsibility means that both parents participate equally in the decision making process concerning the long term issues in relation to the care, welfare and development of their children. This includes both parties participating in consultation with one another about the children’s education, obtaining passports, their religious and cultural upbringing, and getting consent for medical procedures. It does not equate to children spending an equal amount of time with each party post separation.

Although the 2006 changes to the Family Law Act set out a methodology for a Court to determine what appropriate long term parenting arrangements might be for children, there is by no means a requirement that separated parents, with or without the assistance of mediators, follow this methodology. What alot of people seem to forget is that the methodology set out in the Family Law Act is only to be applied by a Court if the parents are unable to reach an agreement as between themselves through other processes.

Before separated parents are permitted to commence court proceedings in most cases, they are required to attempt to resolve parenting issues through mediation. Mediation services are provided by a variety of different service providers, including Family Relationship Centres. It is strongly recommended that separated parents seek independent legal advice before embarking upon the mediation process. An experienced and specialist family lawyer ought to be able to assess what issues need to be address at mediation, both legal and non-legal. In turn this might assist in determining what type of mediation is appropriate, and generally what process would best suit the parties in each case.

Some models of mediation are child inclusive. Whether children are interviewed prior to a mediation conference, and feedback is given to the parents, will depend upon what issues are present in each individual case. Certainly a carefully managed approach to mediation has the potential to constructively address not only the living arrangements for the children and how much time they spend with each of the parents, but also it can address issues affecting the children’s development.

A carefully managed approach to mediation in parenting issues is by far the most preferable approach to resolving parenting issues.

This article was submitted to www.parentingaustralia.com.au by Craddock Murray Neumann Lawyers accredited specialists in family law www.craddock.com.au

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