Hartnell Chanot: Divorce/Family Law Solicitors Exeter, Devon

Residence Order

Both parents
have joint responsibility in their child's upbringing.

A Residence Order states where a child is to live. Irrespective of the decision, both parents still have joint responsibility (if the other parent has Parental Responsibility) in relation to the child's upbringing.

If you are applying for a residence order, you need to show it is in the child's best interest to live with you : you will need to think very carefully about their physical needs and daily routines.

Before making a ‘residence order' the court will consider the welfare principle, welfare checklist, and the ‘no-order' principle: as well as what is in the child's best interests. Family courts also have a principle called "presumption of contact," under which they have to do everything possible for fathers to see their children.

How Residence Is Determined

The Court considers the following circumstances in deciding with whom/where the child will live:

• The best person to be able to meet the child’s daily needs.
• The domestic routine of the child up to the present (see Status Quo).
• The work commitment of the person/s applying for a residence order.
• In the case of very young children, the court assumes they are better off living with the mother unless the contrary can be proven. However, the granting of a residence order is still subject to the case’s individual merits and may not necessarily invalidate the father’s probability of being granted a residence order.
• It is generally considered beneficial for siblings to remain together and there is a preference for the child to be bought up by a parent as opposed to a non-parent, except in exceptional circumstances where the child has formed a strong bond with a non-parent.

It is possible to grant a residence order to more than one individual (in the case of shared parenting for example).

A residence order also provides Parental Responsibility to the holder of the order for the lifetime of the order, usually until the child turns 16 years of age unless there are exceptional circumstances. For example if an unmarried father without PR is granted a residence order, the court will also have to grant him an order for Parental Responsibility.