Shared care – will it work for you?

As family solicitors, we are continuing to see a rise in parents wanting to achieve a shared care arrangement for their children. We explore below what a shared care arrangement is and what factors to consider when deciding whether it is right for your family.

What is a shared care arrangement?

You may be surprised to know that there is no strict definition of shared care. People will often think that it means a complete 50/50 split whereby the children live with both parents equally. However, this does not have to be the case. Children can live with one parent more than the other, and there still be a shared care arrangement in place.

Parents are able to agree any arrangements that they feel works best for their children without the intervention of the court. It is only when parents are unable to agree arrangements between them that an application to the court may be necessary, so that the court can decide what arrangements are in the best interests of the children.

What orders can the court make?

A shared care arrangement is usually expressed as an order that the children live with both parents. Also known as a ‘joint lives with’ order.

In children proceedings the court’s paramount consideration is the welfare of any children. When considering what orders to make, including a ‘lives with‘ order, the court will consider the welfare checklist having regard to the following factors:

• (a) the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned (considered in the light of their age and understanding);
• (b) their physical, emotional and educational needs;
• (c) the likely effect on them of any change in their circumstances;
• (d) their age, sex, background and any characteristics of theirs which the court considers relevant;
• (e) any harm which they have suffered or is at risk of suffering;
• (f) how capable each of their parents, and any other person in relation to whom the court considers the question to be relevant, is of meeting their needs;
• (g) the range of powers available to the court under the Children Act 1989 in the proceedings in question.

Is a shared care arrangement right for your family?

Some factors that you may wish to consider are as follows:

• What is in your child’s best interest? Consider the Welfare Checklist and whether the proposal that you are suggesting is in the child’s best interest in light of the factors. Every child is different. What may work for one family, may not work for another.
• Will it work logistically? For example, if one parent lives a long way from the children’s school, will there be substantial travel involved and how will that impact on the children? How available are both parents to care for the children each day when the children are in their care?
• What will the arrangements actually look like? There are many variations of shared care arrangements and what pattern of care works for the family? In practical terms what would it look like and how would that work?
• Will there need to be a staged plan to work towards shared care? If a child is not used to spending significant time in one parent’s care, will it assist for the arrangements to progress on a staged basis over time to build up to shared care? This may help the child to adapt and get used to the changes.
• Are there any tools/resources that can be used to support your co-parenting relationship? CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) have produced a useful document called a Parenting Plan that parents can complete to assist in reaching an agreement on how they wish to raise and parent their children. There are also many courses available to parents that can help them to build and promote a co-parenting relationship.

As you can see there are many different factors to think about when considering whether a shared care arrangement will work for your family. If you wish to discuss this or any other family law matter, please contact our offices to set up a consultation with one of our solicitors in the team on 0161 537 2808.