The Law Society has slammed the government’s proposals for the introduction of a legislative presumption of shared parenting for two reasons. Firstly, they argue that the welfare of a child could be undermined and secondly the volume of litigation is likely to increase, as mediation will become more difficult. 

The Law Society deemed the Ministry of Justice’s Consultation on this subject, which closed last month and is currently awaiting a response, to be ‘seriously flawed’, although they did acknowledge that the government’s proposal to promote co-operative parenting is ‘admirable’.  

The Law Society’s main concern and criticism is that this poses a risk that shared parenting will become the primary consideration in assessing a child’s welfare instead of protection from harm. They claim that introducing legislation that creates an assumed right to shared or equal time for both parents leads to ‘heightened and unrealistic’ expectations among parents. 

The Law Society argues that legislative changes are not needed in this area of law; however this is in contrast to the views of organisations such as Fathers 4 Justice. 


This article is written by Ipek Bekir, Head of Family department at Lester Dominic Solicitors.