residence order if we were married

[mehdismummy]

do i need to apply for a residence order for ds? we are still married but applying for divorce as we have been seperated for 2 years today!!

you dont need one but if you want one you can apply for one. however they would probably look at putting in a court order for contact at the same time and obviuosly if you apply for one will you ex object and try to get it himself or want more defined contact. At the end of the day it depends on your relationship with your ex and how you get along with them and contact arrangements and whether its worth rocking the boat if it is ok.

thanks kitty, i see what you mean i dont want to rock the boat at all at the moment its when he can be arsed he will see him and he agrees that ds is too young to have an overnight stay without me, i do wonder if this will change when ds is older as in his country/religion they believe the mother should do the rearing until a certain age

i also know he wont fight a residence order because he doesnt really understand what it means iyswim

all i can say then is leave well alone until you need to do some thing and make sure if you are in any doubt that you notify the passport office that they are to notify you should you ex apply for a passport, best be safe than sorry, do this now!

i have the passports and birth certificates too, ds has dual nationality and both passports will run out in 2011, i am not gonna renew the algerian one but dunno if he can apply for it without my permission.

dont know about the algerian one but he could say that there british passport is lost and ask for a new one as the father he would be given one no questions asked remeber the passport office dont know your circumstances until you tell them!

You don't need a residence order. When you divorce you will need to agree a Statement of Arrangements indicating what arrangements have been made for any children.

The courts have a no order principle and should only really make a residence order in favour of one parent when for one reason or another it isn't possible for a child to live with the other parent and it is in child's best interest for there to be an order.

In recent years the outcome of 25% of residence order applications is shared residence. That means the child/ren live with both parents although not necessarily for 50% of the time.

Totally agree with STIDW (for the second time this morning!)

As said above, there is the 'no order principle' which means that unless there is a dispute where the child/ren should live there is no need to make an application.