Should Child Custody Cases Go To Court
80% of British Citizens are married by the age of 40. The current divorce rate for couples is almost 50% and 48% of those couples have children living with them.
The question of child custody after a divorce has numerous outcomes. 49% of child custody cases go to court because the parents cannot decide between themselves what happens to their children. 49 percent of divorcing couples put the children’s fates into strangers’ hands but is this what is truly better for children?
How the court decides on what happens to a child or siblings varies greatly depending on the situation. The court will decide on numerous factors. The first is which parent is currently responsible for important parenting tasks like cooking, bathing, putting to bed, making important decisions, teaching basic skills and helping with homework,
Of course, the court tries to operate in the child’s best interests so other factors will be considered such as: Physical and mental health of parents and their financial and emotional ability to care for a child, any special needs the child may have, the need for a child to have a safe and stable home environment and child's own wishes (if they are old enough to express this).
Whether or not a child can express their choice depends on their age. Once a child is over 9 years old, they are considered mature enough to have a reasoned idea of what they want. However, a child younger than this may also have a preference and an older child could have been biasedly influenced by one of the parents to make them in favour of what that parent wants. This could include telling the child things such as “If you loved me, you’d pick me” or “Your dad/mum never did anything for you, did they.”
Finally, and considerably more complicated, often worrying or unsettling to the child is a parenting plan or split custody where the children spend part of their time with one parent and the other part with the other parent. This could involve frequent moves and having to keep two lots of basics in two different houses. Having a split plan can be bad for children’s mental health because of several reasons. E.g., a child may feel fearful of being left alone, as both parents leave them after spending valuable time together.
Additionally, this fear of being left alone could result in other emotions like feeling angry at one or both parents for the relationship breakdown or feeling guilty and believing that they were the cause of the parental separation. Because of their parent’s divorce it could consequence in having to move schools, houses or even make new friends, which can severely affect a child’s well-being. Because of the stress of important examinations every year, the child would be well over breaking point. Having to move houses could conclude in losing important documents for school or leaving treasured possessions behind. Having to move schools and making new friends is very hard to adjust to, especially if everyone else has already adjusted.
Sometimes, in very severe cases, the child’s well-being might have been damaged so much that they can develop serious mental health issues.
Furthermore, when a couple has more than one child, siblings may have to be separated which can be devastating for them, especially if they have a very close bond whilst already having an unstable mental health. Some things can only be understood between siblings, and the parent may not be able to really comprehend what their child is feeling, which means that the child would have no one to turn their head to. Because of this, it can make them feel very lonely and depressed. This is also a reason why child custody cases should go to court as it takes in the child’s best interests first.
