Scenario, a couple have a child and are separated. The mother changes her will to say that in the event of her death, the child will stay with a member of her family unless the father meets certain standards of living that the mother lays down. The father will be permitted she’s sure (but she hasn’t defined that in the will) to visit at weekends.
Is this legal? My first thought was that as long as the father isn’t dead or likely to neglect or abuse the child, his status as father was unchanged and no-one could take the child away from him. Dad agrees and thinks its nonsense, are we correct in thinking this?
BTW, lets just say the father of the child is a friend of mine or something. Yeah, friend will do.
The relevant act is the Children’s Act of 1989.
Assuming the parents were married at the time of birth, they both have parental responsibility.
If not, the father could apply to the courts for a residence order, (as could the mother’s relative). I think in order for the relative to suceed they would need to demonstrate that living with the father would be contrary to the child’s best interests.
Try CAFCASS or rather tell your friend to look at the CAFCASS site. Look up residence and contact and that should list the relevant points of the Children’s Act.
Thanks for the cite, my Dad and I thought that given the old adage, possession being 9/10s of the law, the relative would have to be the one trying to prove they should have custody.
I’ll check that site, thanks.