Do children automatically live with their mother?
Married parents share joint parental responsibility and come before the Court as equals. The children’s welfare is the court’s paramount consideration. If there is a dispute as to with which parent the children should live, one or other of them must issue an application for a Residence Order. In considering which parent is best able to meet the child’s best interests, the Court will apply the “welfare checklist” (s1(3) Children Act 1989).
