In what circumstances will a court order shared residence?

Since April 2014 there is no such thing as a shared residence order as such.

This is because courts now just make residence and contact orders under one umbrella called a child arrangements order.

However, shared residence can still be ordered by the court under the child arrangements umbrella if the circumstances are right.

Recently, the Court of Appeal gave a list of guidelines for the circumstances that would merit shared residence. Until this point, shared residence was really only given in exceptional circumstances. The guidelines from the Court of Appeal mention that shared residence could be appropriate when, for example, both parents live close together or where the child clearly feels that they have two homes. These and the others mentioned by the Court of Appeal are just guidelines. If you and your spouse live a long distance apart and it is in the best interests of the child, you could still get shared residence of your child. It’s best to get expert legal advice to full understand your position.

Austin Kemp specialise in advising parents who would like shared residence. We can also help if your spouse would like shared residence but you do not think it is appropriate.

For more information on this subject please visit our Legal Library.

Contact us to see how we can help you with divorce and child arrangements

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