It is always a stressful time when you decide to end a relationship and if there are children involved, this often leads to issues, as both parents do not agree about the different aspects of child custody and care. In a perfect world, we would agree about everything and draw up a legally binding agreement that outlines every aspect of child support, yet this rarely happens, as one party is not agreeable for one reason or another.
Mediation
When there are issues concerning the children, rather than both parties preparing their case to put forward to the Family Court, it is recommended that, with the help of family solicitors in Adelaide, you mediate with your ex-partner regarding every aspect of the children’s welfare. It might be that while you are agreeable to your partner having custody of the children, you might not be happy with their ideas regarding your visitation rights, and rather than taking up the Family Court’s valuable time, your family lawyer can mediate with your ex-partner’s legal counsel and hopefully, come up with a solution that is agreeable to both parties. This might involve several meetings before everything is finalised, and your lawyer would work to secure an agreement that is favourable to you and that would mean mediating with your ex-partner’s legal counsel.
Parenting Consent Order
When both parents are in full agreement over every aspect of the children’s care, your family lawyer can submit this agreement to the family court, and should they agree, then a formal parenting consent order is issued, which is a legally binding agreement that cannot be changed by either party. This enables both you and your partner to have a level of finality regarding the children, and neither parent needs to attend the court when the parenting consent order is submitted to the court.
Family Court Ruling
Taking the Case Before the Family Court is, of course, the last resort and should this happen, your lawyer would do everything in their power to secure you a favourable outcome, which would involve preparing a case to put forward to the court for their consideration.
If you enlist the services of a local family lawyer at the outset, it is hoped that you can reach a satisfactory agreement with your ex-partner, then the lawyer can prepare the parenting consent order for the Family Court’s approval. If not, then your lawyer will help you to prepare a case to put forward to the Family Court and they would listen to both parties before making a decision.
