An updated edition of our user guide for party litigants in child contact court cases was published at the Shared Parenting Scotland AGM on 30th November. The guide can be downloaded from our web site here.
The guide has been updated to cover recent changes including the workings of family courts during Covid restrictions and includes information about the forthcoming changes that will result from the implementation of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020.
Commenting at the launch, National Manager Ian Maxwell said: “We hope this new edition will be useful both to people representing themselves but also to anyone who is involved in a family court case. It explains the processes and procedures involved in starting or defending a case and the terms and phrases that can be confusing for anyone drawn into legal processes for the first time. Over a thousand copies of the guide have been downloaded from our website over the last 10 years.”
“Shared Parenting Scotland encourages those who contact us to avoid going to court if possible. The adversarial system tends to polarise attitudes and can even generate entirely new grievances. It can also be crushingly expensive and unpredictable. Our impression is that more individuals are deciding to represent themselves because the cost can be so high. It is a common refrain at group meetings that “the thousands we are both spending on legal costs is money that ought to be there for our kids. Sometimes, however, the courts can’t be avoided where negotiation is not possible and our ambition is that Scotland should move to a more humane and transparent system where parenting is shared rather than won in a battle for time with their children.”
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