How do i get sole custody of my child uk

What Are The Four Types Of Child Custody?

What Are The Four Types Of Child Custody?

Feb 8 2021 | Family Law

Trainee Solicitor

In this article

Child custody is one of the most crucial areas of law as it decides how much of an influence you’ll have in your child’s life. However, regardless of the parents’ situation during a relationship breakdown, as long as parents have parental responsibility, they should not be denied involvement over their child’s upbringing.

If you’re a parent facing custody arrangements, our solicitors know it’s a scary process, during an already very challenging time. Therefore, we have outlined the four types of custody, which will hopefully help you and your partner reach an agreement before the judge takes matters out of your hands.

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If the custody agreement is made outside of court, it’s not legally binding. If you need support today with your custody case, please call our family solicitors directly on 020 3007 5500.

Child custody is a legal term that refers to which parent/s gains the rights and responsibilities of physically caring for their child and making key decisions over raising their child.

Custody arrangements are only applicable to children below the age of 18.

In the Uk, the four types of custody include physical custody, legal custody, full custody and joint custody.

This form of custody is regarding which parent the child lives with on a daily basis. Physical custody comes in two forms, which are:

1. Sole physical custody
2. Joint physical custody

Sole physical custody is when a child lives primarily with one parent. The parent who has sole physical custody is known as the ‘custodial’ parent. The other parent will be known as the ‘non-custodial’ parent. The non-custodial parent will usually be granted visitation or parenting time with their child, unless in extreme circumstances. Nowadays, the court’s will likely give one parent sole physical custody. The court’s main priority is the well-being of a child. Therefore, giving one parent sole physical custody will minimise disruption to a child’s routine.

Joint physical custodyis when the child spends significant amounts of time living with both parents. Although joint custody may seem like the fairest solution for both parents, this is not necessarily true in the child’s case. If joint physical custody is determined, the children will be regularly shuttled around between parents.

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Regardless of the physical arrangements, parents will usually have joint legal custody of their children. But what is legal custody, and how does it differ to physical custody?

Legal custody is separate from physical custody. As physical custody is regarding where the child lives, legal custody decides which parent controls the child’s upbringing. A child’s upbringing covers the child’s schooling, medical care and religious upbringing. However, like physical custody, there are two types of legal custody which are:

In the UK, full custody refers to one parent receiving both sole physical and sole legal custody of a child. However, if full custody is granted to one parent, the other parent will likely still have visitation rights. Full custody may be granted to one parent when one of the following situations occurs:

• It’s determined by the courts, that the other parent is considered unfit to raise a child;
• The other parent has been incarcerated or has a criminal record.
• There is a history of abuse or neglect by the other parent.
• One parent has become ill, disabled, or otherwise incapacitated;

There may be animosity between you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse. But, it’s best not to seek full custody unless the other parent causes direct harm to the children.

When both parents share custody over areas of their children’s lives, it’s known as joint custody.

There are three forms of joint custody, which are:

1. Physical joint custody. When the child spends significant amounts of time with both parents.
2. Legal joint custody. Where both parents make decisions over a child’s upbringing.
3. Joint physical and legal custody. When both physical and legal custody is collaborative, it means a child physically spends significant amounts of time with both parents. Additionally, both parents share decisions over the child’s upbringing.

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When parents share joint custody, they usually work out a schedule according to their work requirements, housing arrangements and the children’s needs. If the parents cannot agree on these elements, the court will impose an agreement.

At such an important time, mistakes and misunderstandings can have devastating impacts on you and your children’s future relationship. Therefore, by instructing a specialist family solicitor, you can have that peace of mind that your case is in safe hands. Furthermore, our solicitors ensure that a fair agreement will be made.

If you have any more questions regarding your matter, please visit our child law page or call our family solicitors today on 020 3007 5500.

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Child Custody - How Do I Get Custody of My Child?

Sorry no legal aid If you are looking for legal aid you will need to contact solicitors able to offer this service. Check whether you can get legal aid here.

How to apply for custody of a child in the UK

The old ideas of child custody no longer exist in English law. It’s true however that parents often refer to who will get custody, ask about shared custody and have questions about their rights to have custody of their child. You’ll still also see media headlines referring to people being taken to court over child custody and TV programmes where a character says they are going for ‘full custody’.

Under current English law if you cannot agree as parents where you children will live and when and how they will spend time with each parent you can apply for a Child Arrangements Order.

Custody rights and shared custody

Both parents are important. Whilst you may think you should have sole custody of your child it is anticipated that a child will have a relationship and spend time with both parents unless they are at risk of harm. If you are worried that your child is at risk of harm you should take action immediately – call us or request a call back.

Most parents manage to reach an agreement between themselves and arrange what they call shared custody.

Parents who cannot agree about how their child will be cared can apply to the court for a child arrangements order, but they should first attempt mediation where an independent third party will listen to both sides and try to help a couple reach an agreement. Often, they will take legal advice alongside the mediation process to provide confidence that the agreement reached is in the child’s best interests.

Parents who are still unable to agree, whether that is with the help of their solicitor or with a mediator, can ask the courts to decide at a court hearing. The resulting Child Arrangements Order will deal with living and contact arrangements with both parents.

Will I be able to get custody for my child?

A court will always consider what is in the best interests of the child and will use the Welfare Checklist before making their decision. This checklist requires them to consider things like the age, physical / emotional needs and wishes and feelings of the child, taking account of their age and maturity. The court will also look at the capabilities of the parents to meet the physical and emotional needs of the child.

There is a presumption of continued parental involvement by both parents, often referred to as shared parenting. It is worth noting that continued parental involvement does not mean a particular division of time. The age of the child will be one important factor to be considered.

Ultimately you will need to consider what is in the best interests of your child. If you and your ex cannot agree a detailed discussion with a family lawyer may help you understand your rights and prepare your case to present to your ex.

Call Woolley & Co, family lawyers on 0800 321 3832 to arrange a telephone appointment with one of our family law experts, or complete our online form.

Sole responsibility when applying for a visa: who is considered the guardian of the child and how to confirm the status

The immigration law of the United Kingdom contains rules according to which a minor child can come to the country accompanied by one parent. Immigration Consultant RSL - LAW Oliver Westmoreland talks about the challenges a parent has with sole responsibility and how they can be overcome.

RSL-LAW staff often encounter a situation where one parent applies for a UK visa with a child, while the other parent does not participate in the process for various reasons. This may be due to death, divorce, separation, or a desire to stay in your home country for work reasons.

Sole custody requirements

In the event of the death of the other parent, it is unlikely that there will be any difficulty in applying for a visa. In all other cases, in order to meet all the requirements of sole custody that the UK visa service puts forward, the applicant must provide evidence that for a certain period of time he was the main person fulfilling parental obligations to the child.

The immigration rules state that if there is no other parent on the visa application form, one of the following must be true when applying for a visa:

1. Applicant is the only living parent of the child;
2. The applicant parent has sole custody and is solely responsible for the child;
3. The presence of serious, compelling family or other reasons (treatment, education, participation in any project) for obtaining a visa in connection with the need for the child to stay in the UK.

The third paragraph is an overarching provision that allows the UK Visas and Immigration officer to resolve the issue on his own in difficult cases, since his duties and powers allow him to make discretionary decisions (that is, decisions of his own discretion).

In most cases, parents rely on paragraph 2, which does not mean full sole responsibility in the literal sense, but rather that the applicant parent needs to show that he bears b o more responsibility for the child for a sufficient period of time.

Who will be considered the sole guardian?

It is believed that it is easier for a mother to obtain sole custody of a child, however, according to statistics, the chances of both parents in this case are initially equal.

To prove your responsibility for the child, when applying for a visa, you must provide facts such as:

• whether the child's parents are married;
• if the parents are divorced, which of them is entrusted with guardianship;
• which of the parents financially supports the child;
• which of the parents decides on the upbringing, education, treatment of the child, etc.

In the event that the applying parent fully covers the costs and meets the material needs of the child, this is not considered sufficient for a positive decision on this issue. The parent needs to prove that he makes important decisions in the life of the child, that is, an element of care must be clearly traced. For example, you can take the situation when the child lives only with the applicant parent (it happens that children live with relatives), then the existence of a real emotional connection between them is obvious, and this is a key element in determining responsibility as exclusive.

How to confirm the status of a guardian

To confirm the status of the sole guardian of a child, it is enough to provide documentary evidence, for example, the parent's application to the school. This is important for understanding: (a) the extent of the parent's involvement in the child's life and (b) the fact that the other parent is removed from the upbringing process. A copy of correspondence or documents from religious, medical and other institutions may also come in handy.

Who has the hardest time?

The above rules create some difficulties mainly for two-parent families where parents raise a child together, but due to certain circumstances, one of them remains in his native country (due to business, elderly parents, etc.), and the other plans to leave, so that the child, for example, could receive a British education.

Existing rules are clearly hostile towards such situations and families. Apparently, immigration officials have not yet considered this option.

If you have any questions about sole custody, we will be happy to provide you with qualified legal assistance.

This article is the intellectual property of RSL-Law, published for informational purposes, and does not constitute legal advice. Our team will be happy to provide more detailed information at the consultation.

If you have any questions about immigrating to the UK, buying or selling real estate, setting up a new business, running an existing business, or personal or corporate accounting, please contact our UK qualified specialists in Russian and English info@rsl-law. co.uk or 02070605333

Solicitors Regulation Authority, license number: 591917
Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme Accreditation: Specialist lawyers in the sale and purchase of real estate in the UK

KAREN WOODALL. FORCED CONTROL IN CASES OF DIVORCE DIVORCE CHILDREN topic, has been working for over 10 years as a psychotherapist and director of her own private Separation Clinic in London, practicing the practice of reuniting estranged parents and children. She has personal experience of parental alienation; in childhood she herself was alienated from her father. Blog - http://karenwoodall.blog/

Forced control in cases of alienation of children at a divorce

Source https://karenwoodall.blog/2021/04/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/14/COERCIVE- -in-divorce-And-Separation/

Published April 14, 2021

Forced control is determined in the UK in section 76 of the 2015 Serious Crimes Law: “Control or Control or Control or Control or Control or Control or Control or Control or Control or Control or Control coercive behavior in an intimate or family relationship (1) a person (A) commits a crime if- (a) repeatedly or persistently engages in behavior towards another person (B) that controls or coerces, (b) during such behavior, A and B are personally related, (c) the behavior has a significant impact on B, and (d) A knows or should know that the behavior will have a significant impact on B. (2) A and B are "personally related" if-- (a) A is in an intimate personal relationship with B, or (b) A and B live together (i) they are members of the same family, or (ii) they were previously in an intimate relationship. relationships with each other.

The construct of coercive control was conceptualized by Evan Stark as a gender issue. UK law conceptualizes what one person does to another in a position where there is an imbalance of power.

Curiously, the imbalance of power between parent and child is natural, so that coercive parental control of the child is not considered a crime - The law also says: - "But A does not commit an offense under this section if, at the time of conduct in question (a ) A is responsible for B, for the purposes of Part 1 of the Children and Youth Act 1933 years of age (see Section 17 of this Act) and (b) B is between the ages of b and 16 years of age. Section 76 - Serious Crimes Act 2015.

This means that coercive control of a child after the parents divorce is not a crime, and yet it is coercive control of a child, the basis of which is the power that the parent has over the child and which underlies all alienation cases. Alienation of children in divorce and separation depends on the imbalance of power, without this, there can be no dynamics of alienation . The child must be under the control of one parent and not under the control of the other for an induced psychological split to occur. Psychological splitting is a psychological defense mechanism that is induced in a child when he is forced into the impossibility of having two existing realities. When a psychological split is induced, the child enters into a hyper-dependent relationship with the controlling parent with the exclusion of the other parent's influence. The basis of this is power and control over the child.

This is a form of intimate terrorism in which the child's sense of independence is removed and dependence on the terrorist is created and maintained. Coercive control of children is easily observed when fathers alienate children as part of their constant control of behavior. Many estranged mothers we work with ask why their children have become hyper-dependent on their fathers in situations where the children are estranged from the mother when there have been cases of abuse by the father against the mother.

The reason for this is the dynamics of intimate terrorism, which makes children feel powerless, anxious and afraid that the same violence will be committed against them if they do not support their father. Children who love their mothers will become contemptuous, cold towards her and reject her when they are under their father's coercive control. Children who start living with their mothers after their parents divorce may end up moving to live with their fathers after being alienated by coercive controls that cause fear and anxiety.

I have worked with many cases where fathers systematically undermined the relationship between mother and child in order to gain control over the child as a way of punishing the mother. Children can be psychologically split by controlling fathers, even if they only spend a very short time with their father. At first, some children had minimal contact with their father, but then everything changes, and they already want to spend all their time with him. Coercive control is a highly damaging pattern of behavior that can be devastating to parent-child relationships, to children's ability to experience an integrated sense of self when children are hyper-connected to their father to reject their mother. Power and control are at the heart of this phenomenon, but There is currently no legal recognition of control of a child as an abuse of parental rights , and therefore there are very few requests to resolve this terrible problem .

Forced control of children by their mothers is more covert . Coercive control is a pattern of behavior, covert manipulation is a pattern of behavior that controls children's sense of self and causes them fear of parental rejection and anxiety . We do not understand this hidden behavior, perhaps because there is no recognition of the harm that such mothers do to children, and perhaps because such behavior is largely about the Mother. In a world that holds that men = bad and women = good, where psychological attitudes are the basis for analyzing the dynamics of power and control, so many women struggle with the reality that children are alienated by mothers from fathers.

However, even if we accept coercive control of children by mothers, it is not recognized in UK law and thus is not a criminal act. I find it curious that the coercive control law deliberately delimits parental control of a child as something that is not a criminal act in a scenario that is recognized as a serious problem after the parents divorce. Perhaps this is the next step in protecting children from the dynamics that cause hyper-binding and alienation behaviors.