




Home / All

In a separation involving children, parents must decide what arrangements should be put in place for any children of the relationship. They must decide where the child should live and how much time they should spend with either parent. Many people are able to come to a mutual decision on this and decide jointly what they believe is in the best interests of their child. There are, however, occasions where the parents cannot agree on the arrangements and the Court has to become involved. The paramount consideration for the Sheriff in these cases is what is in the child’s best interests.

Living together unmarried can leave you vulnerable should things go wrong somewhere down the line. As this story shows, if this does happen, there are options, however you must act fast. There are very strict timescales for making a claim – it must be brought within one year of the date the couple separated. This means that a court action needs to have been raised and served on the other person before the one year anniversary has expired.

On the path to divorce, working constructively with your lawyer is one of the most important parts of the journey. You need someone that you trust and that you are able to work with for as long as it takes to resolve matters. Your solicitor will be involved in your life on an extremely personal level during the negotiation and preparation that will ultimately lead to your divorce.