Child Custody Lawyer- Your Responsibility towards Your Child

1. Address: 25 North Bridge Road #03-02 EFG Bank Building Singapore 179104 Tel: +65 6337 0469 Fax: +65 6337 0463 Email Us: consult@gjclaw.com.sg Child Custody Lawyer Child Custody Lawyer- - Your Your Responsib Responsibi il lity ity to towards wards Your Child Your Child Child custody is a delicate issue and need to be dealt with efficiency. A custody lawyer may help you with this. Various factors decide the spouse; the child will stay with, offering reasonable access to the other. Child custodyis one of the most disputing issues in a divorce. A ‘child’ is defined in the Women’s Charter as a ward of a marriage under 21 years of age. The main statute governing child custody in Singapore is the Guardianship of Infants Act, supplemented by the Women’s Charter and Administration of Muslim Law Act. The law of custody applies to every person in Singapore, regardless of the religious community one belongs to. Taking help from a child custody lawyer for the purpose is advisable. An experienced child custody lawyer should be hired as the custody of child may affect the child's future. Custody of child should be distinguished from child care and control. Custody of child grants the custodial parent(s) authority in making major decisions regarding their child. These decisions include matters concerning education, religion and health conditions of the child and many more. On the other hand, child care and control is only given to one parent, who will be involved in the child’s day-to-day matters. The other parent, who has not been given the opportunity, will be granted access to the child for certain periods.

2. A number of factors determine which parent the child should live with. The parent given the control of the child should be able to handle the child’s daily necessities, such as the child’s meals, bedtimes, medical care, transport arrangements etc. The other parent will be granted an order to have reasonable access to the child. Convincing evidence is required for a court to deny a parent of reasonable access to the child. A “penal notice” may be attached to an order of care and control. The penal notice attached can list out specific terms and responsibilities which the parent living with the child has to abide by. The care and control is awarded to mothers in most of the cases. It is often a difficult task for fathers to deal with the full care and control of the child. Only if the mother agrees to the father’s request, or the child is at an age where he/she is able to express clearly to the Court he/she desires to stay with the father, Court will award care and control to the father. In exceptional cases where the mother is found to be abusive, or neglectful of her children, the Court may order an evaluation report by the Family Court counsellor before passing the verdict. Email Us: consult@gjclaw.com.sg