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What about finance relating to the children?
Following the Child Support Act 1991 the court no longer has
the jurisdiction to consider finances for children in the
first instance except by agreement. If the parent taking care
of the children receives state benefit then the Child Support
Agency (CSA) will automatically be involved.
Any court orders for child maintenance made by agreement
before April 2002 will we believe keep the case away from
the CSA. It is still possible to agree a court order after
April 2002 but if either party wishes to make use of the CSA
after that they can "opt in " after 12 months, on
two months notice. The CSA formula post April 2002 is 15%
for one child, 20% for two and 25% for three or more. This
percentage is of net income (after pension), capped at £104,000
pa. It is payable by the non-residential parent and is regardless
of the residential parent's income, but may be affected by
the amount of time spent by the children with the non-residential
parent.
Non Financial Orders and Children
Under the Children Act the court will not make an order
in respect of the children unless it is better than making
no order at all. The rationale behind the Act is that as far
as possible parents should work out the arrangements for the
children between them without the intervention of the court.
If that is impossible however, application can be made to
the court for orders for Contact, Residence and on specific
issues such as which school the children should attend. The
court can also make orders preventing certain steps being
taken without the consent of the court.
Procedures
The first stage on any such application is a Conciliation
appointment at court attended by both parents, the children
if they are old enough, a Children and Family Reporter who
is a trained social worker and the District Judge. If no agreement
can be reached at a Conciliation appointment, then the District
Judge will give directions for the matter to proceed to full
trial.
Mediation
Mediation is currently available to all divorcing and
separating couples as an alternative voluntary form for settling
arrangements concerning children. Mediators are trained lawyers
and/or social workers experienced in family law. The mediator
acts as an impartial third party to help the parties to reach
their own joint decisions as part of a confidential process.
The Charles Russell Family Department has a trained mediator
in this area.
For further details of Charles Russell's other services for
families such as adoption, pre-nuptial arrangements, rights
of co-habitants, please contact David
Davidson or another member of the Family Group.
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