In family law, the area of child care, protection, access, and maintenance is a sensitive one that needs the kind of specialist skills and experiences you get from a HOMS Assist solicitor. Here are some of the areas we can help you with:
- Guardianship rights & responsibilities
- Children and relationship breakdown
- Adoption
- Surrogacy
- Child Abduction
- Child Relocation
Guardianship Rights & Responsibilities
In the area of family law, guardianship is the legal responsibility for the care of a dependent child. It encompasses maintenance of the child, as well as the right to make decisions about a child’s education, religious instruction, health, and general welfare. A guardian’s duties end when the child reaches 18, unless the child has a mental or physical disability that prevents them from reasonably taking care of themselves. In these cases, the guardian may be required indefinitely.
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Parents’ Guardianship Rights
Married parents automatically become their children’s joint and equal guardians. Only mothers have automatic rights to guardianship for children born outside marriage. If an unmarried father has lived with the child’s mother for 12 months consecutively, including three months after the birth, however, he also has automatic guardianship rights. If a marriage is declared null and void, both partners become joint guardians with equal rights. This applies if the decree of nullity was granted following the child’s birth or within ten months of the child’s birth.
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Child Custody
Custody refers to the physical day-to-day care and control of a child. It is automatically granted jointly to married parents living together. Once a marriage ends, parents need to decide their children’s living arrangements. Parents can make informal agreements about custody and child care, but if these break down, they are not legally enforceable. If agreement is not possible, the court will decide. Written agreements can be made a Rule of Court, so be sure to consult an expert family law solicitor to make your custody arrangements. Custody favours the unmarried mother, who automatically gets sole custody. An unmarried father may make a court application for guardianship and/or custody of his child. In some cases, parents do not have custody. In these situations, the child may be living with grandparents or other relatives or may be in the care of the Child and Family Agency (Tusla).
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Child Access
Child access concerns the rights of parents, former partners, or grandparents to communicate and spend time with a child.Access can be an informal agreement, but as with child custody arrangements, a court order may be required if parents cannot agree. This will stipulate the amount of time the child will spend with each parent, including overnight, weekends, and holidays. The sanctions for breaching access orders are severe. If one parent refuses access to the other, the parent who is denied access can apply to the courts for breach of access, with the offending parent running the risk of a custodial sentence, fine, or both.
Children and Relationship Breakdown
Divorce and separation can be very difficult for children. That is why it is so important to make proper arrangements for your children as soon as possible, so that they can adjust to the new situation more easily. Your solicitor has considerable practical and legal experience in this area, so they can help you with issues including:
- Child custody (also known as residence)
- Access to your children (contact)
- Financial support, including maintenance, school fees and housing
- Permission to relocate a child
- Grandparents’ rights
Mediation or negotiation are always preferable ways of making child arrangements following divorce, but if this is not possible, your solicitor will help you to settle your dispute in court.
Children and Relationship Breakdown
Adoption
Adoption is the legal process of establishing a parent/child relationship between people who are not related by birth. It is a complex and lengthy process that requires expert advice and guidance to make it as smooth and stress-free as possible. The Health Service Executive (HSE) assesses people hoping to adopt for their eligibility and suitability. Factors assessed include conditions relating to residence, marriage, religion, and age.
Surrogacy
There is no Irish legislation relating specifically to surrogacy, so the legal status of everyone involved is governed by legislation covering non-surrogate births and children.
In the Report of the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction (2005) (pdf), the Commission recommended that a child born through surrogacy should be presumed to be that of the commissioning couple. However, a proposal for an Assisted Human Reproduction Bill to regulate surrogacy has yet to be made law, and it is not scheduled for enactment.
Traditionally, the surrogate mother is deemed to be the legal mother of the child and the child’s guardian.
Child Abduction
If a child is removed without permission from the person who has custody, they are considered to have been abducted. Ireland has signed the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (1980), which embraces the principle that the court of the child's habitual residence is best placed to decide any custody disputes. Irish domestic law incorporates both the Hague and Luxembourg conventions in the Child Abduction and Custody Orders Act 1991. If you wish to report a child abduction into Ireland, you need to apply to the Central Authority for Ireland at the Department of Justice.
Contact the Gardaí immediately, if you believe your child is in danger of being abducted.
Child Relocation
If you wish to make a new start after a separation or divorce and relocate with your child or children, you must get consent from the other parent or permission from the Court. Failure to take these steps could be seen as child abduction.
