Dealing with the arrangements for the physical, emotional and financial care of children is one of the most critical aspects of the legal process of separation and divorce.
Kelly Family Law is experienced in dealing with these issues in a compassionate and caring way. We help our clients work through the legal issues surrounding the most important people in their lives – their children.
Issues surrounding children include:
Parenting Plans
A parenting plan is an agreement between the parents or guardians of a child which may deal with such issues as who the child predominately lives with, how much time the child spends with the other parent, how the parents and child can communicate when absent from each other, child support, education, medical treatment, religious observance and travel arrangements.
Child Support
A parent’s responsibility for the financial support of their children is not changed because of a divorce, because the child does not live with them or because or either parent remarrying. Ensuring the proper financial support of children can be one of the most bitterly contested aspects of family law. Kelly Family Law is here to guide you every step of the way. We can give you a clear outline of what the reasonable expectations are for support of your children and if agreement can’t be reached your most effective avenues for resolution.
The Child Support Agency is responsible for deciding the amount that should be provided as child support. We regularly assist our clients to make their applications for child support or otherwise reach agreement as to the amount that should be provided by the other parent.
Child Parenting Orders
Few issues raise tension amongst people as much as the settlement of child living arrangements. The basic tenet of child living arrangements is that it is a child’s right to spend time with both parents unless there is a genuine reason not to do so. This area of law has developed over time away from some of the simplistic arrangements in favour of more carefully thought out and flexible arrangements which work always towards what is in the best interests of the child.
Kelly Family Law can assist you to negotiate this complex area and advise you on solutions that may include arrangements covering who the child lives with, spends time with or simply communicates with. Factors including travel distance, whether time spent is “quality time” and whether the arrangement impact on the child’s general welfare are all taken into account.
If you want to know more about legal arrangements for your children following a separation or divorce please call 07 4911 0500 or email us for a confidential consultation with an experienced Mackay family lawyer.
