Advice

Parental Responsibility

Parents both have a duty to support their children as far as they can and, prior to any Court orders, they have joint responsibility for them. When parents separate, usually the children live with one of the parents most of the time and it is said that the children reside with that parent. This means that residential parents should make the decisions concerning the daily care and control of the children (although until the Court makes an order both parties still have joint responsibility). The other parent now has "contact" with the children. Contact is the time the children spend with the parent with whom they do not live. There are no winners and no losers in resolving these issues. The object is to place the children where they can best develop whilst preserving close contact with both parents.