If you are going through the ending of a relationship, you may have concerns over how and when you will be able to see your child.
At Pickering & Butters, we understand that this is likely to be a very difficult time for you and how important it will be to put the right arrangements in place for the future, both for you and for your family.
We know that your child will be your priority and that you will be looking for the best solicitors for child access to ensure that you are able to maintain the bonds you have. Our family law team has extensive experience in dealing with child access, referred to in legal circles as child arrangements.
Our family law solicitors can work with you to negotiate new arrangements for your child and ask the court to put an order in place making them legally binding. All of our family law solicitors are members of Resolution, the family law legal group committed to resolving issues without conflict. We always do all we can to find a solution without recourse to the courts. Where necessary, we will support and represent you through alternative dispute resolution such as mediation.
We offer a full range of legal services relating to arrangements for children, including:
- Advice on making arrangements for children
- Drafting and negotiating child arrangements
- Child arrangements orders
Get expert help from our solicitors for child access in Stafford and Rugeley
For tailored legal advice on child access, please get in touch with our child access solicitors in Stafford and Rugeley.
Our child access laws UK services
Advice in making arrangements for children
We can talk through your situation with you and discuss what you could realistically expect in respect of child arrangements. We can also look at how to achieve your desired outcome, including alternative dispute resolution or court action where necessary.
Drafting and negotiating child arrangements
We can represent you in negotiating with the solicitor for your child’s other parent to try and agree on the right arrangements for your family. Our solicitors are skilled negotiators and are often able to resolve matters without the need for litigation.
Once an agreement has been reached, we can draft a set of child arrangements for approval by the court.
Child arrangements orders
When arrangements have been agreed upon, we can ask the court to seal these into a binding order.
Alternatively, if it is not possible to find a solution without litigation, we can prepare a robust case for court on your behalf and ensure that you are represented by an expert child law advocate.
Child access rights UK FAQs
How do I get access to my child?
The best way to spend time with your child is by agreeing on times you can see them with your child’s other parent. Our family law team can help you negotiate this where necessary and ensure that your child arrangements are legally binding so that you can rely on them for the long term.
Do mothers always get residence of a child?
The court prefers that a child has a meaningful relationship with both parents. If it is asked to make a child arrangements order, it will take a number of factors into account in deciding what order to make. This will include looking at the capability of each parent to care for the child and who has had the main care of the child previously.
Where a mother has working hours that fit around childcare or they have provided the bulk of the child care to date, a court may decide that it is in the child’s best interests to live with the mother. This can make it seem that typical child access arrangements involve a child living with their mother, but the court will make its decision based on the facts of each individual case.
Is court necessary for getting access to my child?
The courts always prefer that child arrangements are dealt with between the parents without the need for litigation wherever possible.
If a decision cannot be made by agreement between you and your child’s other parent, you will need to consider mediation as a next step, unless there is a valid reason not to, such as a history of domestic violence.
How does mediation for child access in the UK work?
You will need to attend a first meeting with a mediator, known as a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting or MIAM. This will allow you to talk to the mediator and for the mediator to explain how the process works and how they may be able to help you and your child’s other parent explore the options that are open to you.
If you both agree to try mediation, meetings will be arranged for you both with the mediator. You can all be in a room together or the mediator can move between separate rooms to speak to you on your own.
Mediation can help you and your partner work together and can also reduce the conflict in the situation. If a solution is found, it will be one that you both agree on and, unlike court, you will not have an outcome imposed upon you.
How do the courts decide who gets access to a child?
If mediation is not successful and the court is asked to decide on child arrangements, it will always act in the way it considers to be in your child’s best interests. It will take into account the child welfare checklist, as follows:
- The child’s wishes and feelings, taking into account their age and understanding
- Their physical, emotional and educational needs
- The likely effect on them of any change in their circumstances
- Their age, sex, background and any other relevant characteristic
- Any harm they have suffered or are at risk of suffering
- The capabilities of each parent in meeting their needs
- The range of powers available to the court
In looking at what is best for your child, the court can ask the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, or Cafcass, to help. Cafcass may visit you, your child and the child’s other parent and prepare a report if it is considered necessary to do so to assist the court in making any decisions
For more information on the powers available to the court, see our child law solicitors page.
How much are solicitors’ fees for child access?
We know that you will want to know how much our solicitors’ fees for child access are and if you call us to discuss your situation, we can talk through the potential costs. We always aim to provide transparency and we will make sure that you have clear cost estimates throughout.
Get in touch with our solicitors for child access
For tailored legal advice on child access, please get in touch with our solicitors for child access in Stafford and Rugeley.
