Children Affected by Divorce

The case of Jonah v White (2012) 48 FAM LR 562 wishes to appeal the original decision of Murphy J, in which his Honour asserted that the appellant, (“Ms Jonah”) and the respondent (“Mr White”) had not been in a de-facto relationship in correspondence with the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (“the Act”). The appeal is bought before May, Strickland and Ainslie-Wallace JJ in the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia in Brisbane. The case seeks to question and determine what constitutes a law-binding de-facto relationship.

Identify and investigate these contemporary issues relating to family law and evaluate the effectiveness of legal and non-legal responses to these issues

     The purpose of this paper was to give some insight into the vicious battles that take place over child custody. It is important to mention that raising children is difficult even with two parents, now when there is only one parent the difficultly increases by leaps and bounds. The idea of joint custody seems to sound like a good solution however, Smith (2003) stated

As a group, (each group member representing a person in the dilemma) we examined eight steps in the ERC. Throughout each phase, the child’s primary best interests were considered by all parties. As the director progressed through the ERC, it became clear that both the parents and Michael have legal rights that need to be addressed.

The Family Court ensures that each case and judgement concerning marriage/relationship breakdowns involving children is treated equally with emphasis on the child and its best interests. At times mutual agreement on the shared parental responsibility (the underlying principle of the law

There are actions taken within the courts and there is a sense of understanding that all decisions made regarding couples separating are to be done with the child as the focus- something which satisfies CROC. Unfortunately, as seen from above, the actual nature of protection of children in such situations is questionable ground and instead provides a more adequate than an exemplary form of

This amicus brief reflects the balance between psychology and law by applying them both to decide which is the best option for child placement. The law states that the child should be place with a relative when possible. However, the attorneys are also reaching out to see what effect this could have on the child psychologically. They are using them together to decide what location would be the best for Arnes. The law does state that they should place with a relative when available, while also referring to the fact that a preexisting attachment to a family could also be the same. They refer to what type of damage could occur, if it is short term or would cause long term complications. The law itself is written to allow for interpretation

(4) Before making any decision with respect to a child whom they are looking after, or proposing to look after, a local authority shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, ascertain the wishes and feelings of –

Family law is the most complex aspect of the Australian legal system as it is constantly under review and reform pursuing to adopt society’s continual change in values and principles. The changing of laws in an attempt to be parallel with society is a strenuous process. Nevertheless, legislations are reflective of contemporary society’s values and ethics. Numerous legal issues arise in regards to family including, same sex relationships, domestic violence and divorce ideally on the best interest of the child, where family laws have been imposed to protect individuals and aim to achieve justice.

With fault based divorce in the 1960s, child custody depended primarily on the child’s age. If the child was under seven years old, also known as the ‘tender years,’ the mother would receive physical custody. This was because of the belief at the time that women are good caregivers and it was their job to take care of the children at home. However, if the children were older, custody would be granted to the parent of the same sex. Sometimes judges would also award custody of children dependent on martial or sexual conduct of the spouses. When custody was awarded in this way, the presiding judge could be more focused on the rights of the parents than what is best for the child in that situation. Either way, it was quite noticeable that child custody was based on the judge and their opinion, which could change from case to case.

The second account of a changing stance toward children’s rights was evolution alongside women’s rights. Before this time, women and children were seen as unimportant under the law, whereas a father was given almost total control over all matters regarding his wife and children. If a father was violent or neglectful, society simply turned their shoulder to it. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, laws pertaining to the family system began to change. A new law recognized the equal rights of fathers and mothers with the mother’s rights reigning over the fathers in regards to the children. Also, the legal system began viewing children as important to the future of society, therefore “appropriate objects of the court’s

Contrasts those who argue that it violates the child’s human rights and is for the sake of convenience for the parents, versus those who argue that this treatment is in the best interest of the child because it will provide better quality of life (Clark & Vista, 2007).

However, there are no scientific criteria to define what is the “best interest of the child” if the the child is not able to speak on his/her behalf. What if the child’s interest is said through a guardian ad litem as in Mason? There are disagreements between social scientist and the judicial norm in terms of what is the “best interest of the child.” The arguments based on the rationales that the child’s “best interest” should be based numerous factors, such as cultural, educational, financial, social, spiritual, psychological, anthropological, and interpersonal, personal relationship with surrounding living environments which may directly or indirectly effect the child. The phrase “best interest of the child” is a discretion which courts would use to make the best and effective decision based on circumstances and warranted evidence. It’s not the perfect criteria; nevertheless, it’s best tool which the court could

25(1) for the h & c considerations, the interests of child must be well identified and evaluated in the analysis. Furthermore, the decision will be found to be unreasonable in case of not abiding. This case particular drives the point that the children may experience greater hardship as compared to adults, so in some circumstances h & c grounds may not be applicable to adults but may be to the children

(A) To reduce acrimony that may exist between the parties, (B) to develop an agreement assuring the child close and continuing contact with both parents that is in the best interest of the child, and (C) to create a settlement of the issue of visitation rights of all parties involved that is in the best interest of the child.