Divorce Guide

Residence Orders - Section 8 Children Act

Residence order or section 8 of The Children Act of 1968, in UK, pertains to the custodial arrangement of the child after the divorce of parents.

In case of divorce or separation of parents one can apply for residence order. The Family Proceedings Court will decide regarding the staying arrangement of the child and other relates issues.

Eligibility criteria while applying for a Residence Order under section 8:

1. The parents or guardians
2. A person who holds Residence Order of that child
3. Anyone with whom the child has lived for more than 3 years
4. A step parent of the child with whom the child has stayed as a family
5. Someone who has the consent of local authority regarding child’s custody.

When to apply for Residence Order

Apply for Residence Order if you and your spouse can not reach on a consent regarding the custody of the child. In most of the cases when parents are splitting this order has to be obtained because both of them find it difficult to let go off the child.

Procedure of applying for Residence Order

The applicants have to fill form C1 which is available at the local magistrate’s court. The form will ask for details about the applicants and the child. Different aspects will be evaluated for example the benefits of staying with the applicant, the educational emotional and physical needs of the child, and so on.

In most of the cases the child is not involved in the proceedings and a member of the CAFCASS represents the child’s wishes and feelings to the court.

It is not necessary that the person who has applied for the Residence Order gets the custody of the child by the court. Court considers a number of factors before granting the final Residence Order.

The major factors that court considers before granting the Residence Order are as follows:

Age of the child: if the child is very young or infant the court deems it appropriate to grant the custody to the mother. If the child is old enough to take care of him then court takes the decision depending on other factors.

Child’s daily needs: the court analyses the daily domestic routine of the child and his day to needs. Residence order is granted to the person who can fulfill these needs easily.

Marital status of the parents: if the parents are unmarried then the mother gets the responsibility of the child.

Person’s nature of job: if a parent’s job is too demanding and time consuming and the court feels that the person will not be able to devote enough time to the child then he or she might be denied Residence Order.

Court takes the final decision on the basis of Welfare Report prepared by the member of CAFCASS.

One should know that a Residence Order lasts only till the child is 16 years old. After that the child can take decision with whom to stay with. However during the period of the Residence Order the custodial parent has no right to change the surname of the child, or take the child to another country without required consent.

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