When considering issues relating to parental responsibility for children, one of the factors the courts will have regard to under Section 1(3) of the Children Act 1989 is the children’s wishes and feelings, in the light of their age and understanding. Recently, the Family Court ruled that two children, aged 12 and 11, should live equally with both of their parents, spending a week with each of them on an alternating basis. The Court also resolved the question of where they would go to school.
The mother, who had initially sought permission to relocate from London, had suggested a number of boarding schools, all outside London. The father opposed boarding and suggested day schools in London. He also sought a joint ‘lives with’ order and an increase in the time the children spent with him, to achieve an equal shared care arrangement.
An independent social worker’s report recommended that the Court make the joint lives with order, noting that both parents currently looked after the children and that they had two homes. This was later agreed between the parents, who also agreed that holidays should be shared equally and that the children would move schools in Year 9. The issues remaining for the Court to determine were whether the children should spend two more nights per fortnight with their father and which schools they should attend.
Both children had said that they would like to spend more time with their father. They clearly wished to remain living in London, which they saw as their home. The Court considered that the schools suggested by the father would meet the children’s educational needs. The mother’s proposed schools raised various concerns: they would involve a lengthy commute and there was doubt as to whether the children’s needs would be met.
The Court was satisfied that spending more time with their father would be beneficial for the children and was clearly in line with their wishes. The Court also found that the children would be better served by the father’s proposed schools. They had visited the schools and expressed enthusiasm about attending. The schools were based in London and were within a reasonable distance of both parents’ homes, and were supported by the children’s current schools as appropriate onward placements.
The Court made orders that the children would spend an additional two nights per fortnight with their father and would transfer to one of the father’s proposed schools at the start of Year 9. The Court also made orders giving effect to the matters that had been agreed between the parents.