Presumption of shared residence - a conundrum for the government or the judiciary

Joanne Edwards, Partner, Manches. At the time of writing the article, the Children and Adoption Bill has just been amended at report stage in the House of Lords, having received its second reading in June 2005. Of the many comments that have been made upon the Bill and the green paper that preceded it - Parental Separation: Children's Needs and Parent's Responsibilities" perhaps the most oft-repeated is the fact that the government was wrong not to adopt and enshrine in draft legislation a presumption of contact which gives parents equal rights to equal time with their child(ren) after separation. In this article the author considers the calls for an automatic 50/50 division of a child's time between separated parents in the light of social changes and whether the recent case law marks a shift in this direction. See January [2006] Fam Law 30 for the full article.

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