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Guardianship, Access & Maintenance

The breakdown of a relationship can be an upsetting experience for all parties involved, particularly children.

All parties will want the best possible outcome for their children and to achieve this a child-centred approach is essential when dealing with access, guardianship and maintenance.

We want to ensure that the children’s best interests are met, and a fair outcome is reached for all parties.

Certain categories of people are automatically guardians, such as married couples and mothers.

If you are not automatically a guardian, there are three ways in which you can be made a guardian:

Statutory Declaration with mother
By residing with the mother for a period of 12 consecutive months (3 of which must be following the birth of the child)
By applying to the District Court

Access occurs separately from guardianship, and there are several categories of persons who can apply for access to a child. These include relatives and persons who resided with the child for a specified period of time.

Access is widely considered by the Courts as the child’s right to see important persons in their life as well as the right of those persons to see the child.

Agreements in relation to access are continually subject to change having regard to the needs and the voice of the child.

Child maintenance describes the obligations placed on parents to ensure their upkeep and needs are being met.

These applications are only necessary where one parent has failed, refused or neglected to provide maintenance for their child. In these cases the Court is entitled to intervene and make an order that financial provision be made for the benefit of the child.

Maintenance is means tested and parties will be required to provide full financial disclosure to ensure that the correct sum of maintenance is being provided.

Each case is assessed on a case-by-case basis and there is no specific set of rules as to the amount payable in certain types of cases.

Thankfully there are many cases where parents are able to agree this amongst themselves, often without the assistance of legal advice.

If you have any questions and would like to discuss your options, please fill in the form below and we will be in touch.

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