Child Law Advice

If you are in need of child law advice, our specialist family law solicitors are perfectly placed to help. We understand how difficult dealing with such issues can be as a parent, grandparent, or anyone else with a close relationship with a child. We are well-known for providing exceptional legal support coupled with empathy and compassion.

Reach out to Birch & Co’s specialist and supportive team today. Call us on 0191 284 5030 or complete a Free Online Enquiry now to get a bespoke fixed price estimate.

“Totally satisfied with house call, help and information supplied by friendly and helpful staff.” (Mr L Smith)

What Types Of Child Law Advice Do We Offer?

Our family law solicitors can provide you with child law advice on a wide variety of matters, including the following:

• Child Law Advice Relating To Where Your Child Should Live If You Are Separating From Your Partner

When a relationship breaks down, deciding where the couple’s children should live can be one of the most emotive issues that falls to be resolved.

As with all matters of family law, any decisions relating to where a child should live and who they should spend time with must be made with the child’s best interests in mind. At Birch & Co., our family law solicitors firmly believe that the child’s parents, not external third parties, are best placed to know what would be in their child’s best interests. With that in mind, we usually encourage our clients to seek to reach an agreement with their ex-partner regarding where their child should live, without the court’s intervention. That way, you can make an arrangement that accords with your family’s reality and that has the flexibility to change as your child grows, and your circumstances change.

• Child Law Advice Relating To Child Relocation

As hard as it can be to decide where your child should live and how they should divide their time, it is often possible for the parents to reach a workable arrangement when they live close to each other. However, when one parent decides that they want to relocate with their child, matters can become incredibly complicated.

Child relocation matters must be carefully managed and sensitively handled to avoid them becoming overly acrimonious. As with all family law matters, the child’s parents reaching an agreement based on what would be in the child’s best interests is the ideal solution, although this can be particularly difficult when the topic is a potential relocation.

If the child’s parents are unable to reach a workable compromise, the parent wishing to relocate can apply to court for permission to move, or the parent wishing to prevent the relocation can ask the court to prohibit it. If such an application is made, our family law solicitors will work tirelessly to protect your interests and your child’s welfare.

• Child Law Advice Relating To Child Maintenance

When parents separate, the non-resident parent must make financial contributions to their child’s day to day living expenses. Those payments are intended to cover essentials, such as food, housing, and clothing.

The courts encourage a child’s parents to reach an amicable agreement relating to the amount of maintenance the non-resident parent should pay and how they should pay it. You might agree to the non-resident parent making regular payments at weekly or monthly intervals, paying significant expenses, such as the rent or mortgage on the home in which the child lives, or making sporadic one-off payments at specific points in their child’s life.

If the parents cannot reach an agreement on child maintenance, they must refer the matter to the Child Maintenance Service. The Child Maintenance Service will calculate how much maintenance the non-resident parent should pay based on a six-step formula that takes into account several factors, including the paying parent’s gross income, any other children they support, and any shared care arrangements.

The court generally does not have any authority over child maintenance matters; they are dealt with by the Child Maintenance Service. That said, the court has some limited powers, including the power to order the paying parent to pay top up maintenance if their income exceeds £156,000 a year.

How To Access Our Child Law Advice

Our family law solicitors are dedicated to supporting parents and other interested parties with child law issues. We can provide our child law advice however you wish, be it in person at our offices in Gosforth, Newcastle, at another location convenient to you, over the phone, or by email.

The solicitors and support staff in our family law team are down to earth and approachable, and we go out of our way to put our clients at ease. We genuinely care about every one of our clients, and we go over and above to protect their interests and those of their children, and to secure a fair outcome to every child law matter.