Difference between a "lives with both parents" and "shared care" CAO

[auberJohn]

Hello,

I am going through the Child Arrangements Order process and was wondering what is the difference between a "lives with both parents" order and a "shared care" order? Are they the same thing?

My ex and I are both hands on active parents.

Thank you!

Do you actually need an order ?

Hi Millymollymoomoo,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, unfortunately I do need the CAO.

I guess my point was if you’re both active parents and can agree to the scared care why do you need it? Many separated and divorced parents simply agree between themselves and don’t formalise it

A lives with order as I understand details that one party has primary residence and can then take child away up to 28 days without permission. Aside from that ( I’m sure some legal people will come along and state) it doesn’t give you rights over education or medical decisions or things like that
What specifically is it you need from it, then I’m sure someone can advise best route

They are the same thing.

The Court can make an order saying that the child lives with one parent and spends time with the other. Or it can make an order saying that the child lives with both parents (this is also known as a shared care order.)

‘Living with’ and ‘spending time with’ don’t directly correlate to number of days - for example, the Court might make an order hat a child can live with one parent for 10 days out of 14 and live with the other for the remaining 4 days. Equally they could make an order that the child lives with one parent for 8 days out of 14 and spends time with the other for the remaining 6.

The main consequence of ‘lives with’ orders is that the parent who the child lives with can take the child out of the jurisdiction for up to 28 days without the other parents’ permission, as @millymollymoomoo says. She is also right that as long as you both have parental responsibility, you are both entitled to take part in decisions relating to the child - it’s not that the ‘lives with’ parent gets final say or veto.

In reality, the Court usually likes the order to reflect the reality on the ground - if the child is clearly spending the larger part of their time with one parent, it’s probably right that the order records that the child lives with that parent. If there is a high degree of co-operation and co-parenting, there is no reason that the order shouldn’t reflect that by saying that the child lives with both parents.

Hope that helps!

Reading my post back and cringing at the typos, please do ignore them!

A lives with order allows you to take the children abroad for upto 28 days without the other parents permission. A child can live with one parent or both. That’s the only real legal difference.