1 minute read
Sticking to parenting agreements
If you have a parenting agreement but your ex is not keeping to the agreement, what can you do? It’s best if you and your expartner can try to set aside any issues in your own relationship when children are involved. To work out care and access arrangements, parents must be able to have respectful and mature discussions with each other.
Young children are not able to see your break up in adult ways. They don’t have enough life experience to see the bigger picture, so sometimes they may react in ways that seem unfair to you. It's important to respond to them with sympathy and understanding.
Advertisement
If you and your ex-partner only have an informal agreement about how you will share the care of your children, and did not formalise it as a consent order, it might be hard to enforce the agreement.
If you are unable to get your ex-partner to fulfil what they www.cab.org.nz | 0800 367 222 | Branch operating hours may vary.
The CAB is here to help with free, independent information and advice. Feel free to contact any of the North Shore branches for more info. Not sure? Ask us.
Birkenhead | 09 418 0032 | birkenhead@cab.org. nz
Browns Bay | 09 479 2222 | brsownsbay@cab.org. nz
Glenfield | 09 444 9451 | glenfield@cab.org.nz
Hibiscus Coast | 09 426 5338 | hibiscuscoast@ cab.org.nz
Northcote | 09 480 2971 | northcote@cab.org.nz
Takapuna | 09 486 3139 | takapuna@cab.org.nz agreed to, and you can't come to a new agreement, you might both need to go through the process of:
• doing a Parenting Through Separation course;
• getting Family Dispute Resolution mediation; and (if you still can't agree)
• going to the Family Court for a court order (a parenting order) on how your children's care will be shared.
If you are on a low income you may be eligible for help from a Family Legal Advice Service lawyer.
Remember that at any step during this process, you and your ex-partner can form an agreement about your children's care and not proceed with the next step in the process. If you do come to an agreement, consider applying for it to be formalised as a consent order.
