Obtain Sole Legal Custody Of Your Children In Australia

Sometimes, the reason behind being separated from your former spouse or looking to get a divorce is that you were part of an abusive relationship. If children are a part of such a relationship, the parent who is being subjected to harm must get sole custody of the child in Australia.

This is mostly because the parent wants to safeguard their child from receiving any harm in the future. If you are one of those parents and are looking to hire family law lawyers, you must know how to acquire sole custody of your child in Australia. In this guide, you will get to learn more about acquiring your child’s sole custody.

What Is The Meaning Of Sole Custody In Australia?

The term’ sole custody’ usually indicates that only one parent will have the authority to make all the decisions for their child. The parent who has acquired sole custody is not required to share the child’s care with the other parent. If the child spends time with the other parent, the parent with sole custody will have control over when and for what time the child can spend with the other parent.

What Are The Rights That Parents With Sole Custody Have?

Any order of sole parental responsibility or custody can help provide the parent with the following:

• The sole responsibility for some or all areas of a child’s life, and they do not need to consult their former spouse about it. This is especially when the court has ordered the responsibilities.
• The option of having the child live with the parent with exclusive sole custody
• To decide the extent of contact the child will have with the former spouse.

The sole custody order in Australia does not restrict the child to meet the non-residential parent at all. It will depend mostly on whether the child will be exposed to any form of danger if the non-resident parent has access to them. Before hiring child support lawyers, it is important that you know about these things.

Both Parents Hold Equal Responsibility.

There is usually a legal presumption that equal shared responsibility is held by both parents of a child who is under 18 years of age. This indicates that when granting a parenting order, the court must act subject to a presumption that shared responsibility will be in the child’s best interests.

Section 60CC can help provide extensive directions to an Australian court about the matters that must be considered when deciding what is in the child’s best interests.

The presumption of shared responsibility can be considered “rebuttable” (given enough evidence of harmful conduct or irresponsible conduct by a spouse towards either the spouse or the children. Based on Section 60CG, the court might refuse to recognise one partner’s shared responsibility when making parenting orders.

Application for Sole Custody: Things That Judges Look For

For deciding the sole custody of a child in Australia, the judges and courts must provide proper consideration for the child’s best interests. Section 60CC of the Family Law Act (1975) provides an elaborate outline of what needs to be considered to be in the child’s best interests, and the decisions will be made by the court considering them.

In Australia, there is a kind of legal presumption that both parents must have equal shared responsibility for the child. This is because the child having a meaningful relationship with both parents will be in their best interests. But this presumption can easily be denied if there is enough proof that there is harmful conduct of one partner towards the other or the child.

How Do You Apply For Sole Custody In Australia?

The parent looking to seek sole custody will require a pre-assumption of equal shared responsibility and prove that the custody is in the child’s best interests. To do so, before hiring child custody lawyers, the parent looking to seek sole custody must file an affidavit.

The affidavit will detail the reasons why a parent is looking to seek sole custody of the child. Supporting the application, the parent also must compile the needed evidence. With the help of the best lawyers, they can easily acquire sole custody of their child, provided the eligibility requirements are met.

What Forms Of Evidence Will The Judges Use To Make Any Decision?

After an application for sole custody has been made, the court will consider the following as evidence:

• Police report: If there is physical abuse, domestic violence or any psychological issue.
• Court orders
• Witness statements
• Affidavits
• Proof of total communication breakdown between the parents
• Stability and psychological state of each parent
• Risk of the child being exposed to any form of violence as stated in section 61DA of the Family Law Act (1975). This includes if the parents engaged in any form of abuse of the child or if there was family violence.
• Any other indication showing that joint parenting can do more harm than good to the child.

After the court is satisfied that granting a parent sole custody of the child will be in their best interest, the court will grant sole custody of the child to the parent. This indicates that the court will grant ‘sole parental responsibility that will provide a parent with full decision-making authority.

Is It Important To Seek Legal Advice?

If you wish to apply for sole custody of your child due to being concerned for your child’s safety, you must seek the guidance of expert lawyers. The best lawyers can provide you with the best advice as each case is different, and the circumstances can also differ in various ways.

Contact Family Lawyers Perth WA.

If you wish to seek the sole custody of your child, you can opt to hire Family Lawyers Perth WA. They are one of the best law firms that can provide you with the best lawyers to help guide you in such crucial cases. As they have experience and expertise, they can help ensure that your case is handled properly and that you can acquire sole custody.