26
March
What are Child Arrangements?
Do you understand what child arrangements are?
Our Pauline O’Rourke answers some commonly asked questions regarding contact, residence and child arrangements.
Quite often I am asked  âI want custody of my childâ or âI want visitation rightsâ or quite simply âI want to see my childâ. Getting the terminology right helps to understand what exactly are the rights of children and parents and how best to get the outcome you want.
The terms âcustodyâ and âaccessâ are no longer used and now we refer to residence and contact arrangements. In court proceedings an order is called a Child Arrangements Order and this can include what time each parent shall share with the child or who the child shall live with and how much time the child shall spend with the other parent. Neither parent has a different label and no longer do we adopt battles and fights over custody and access.
If the parents