Access Relevant court forms What is Access Access is contact between a child and its parent or other relative with whom the child does not live. It can be physical in the sense of the child seeing their parent or relative in person or it can be by means of a letter, telephone or other form of electronic communication. It can also mean having the right to visit and spend time with a child and to take them out for an agreed length of time. What happens when parents separate? When parents of a child separate they can make informal arrangements so that the other parent can have access to their child on a regular basis without having to go to court. Where the parents cannot agree to an informal arrangement, either parent can ask the court to decide which parent will have custody of the child and what access the other parent will have. Who can apply for access? An unmarried father can apply for access whether or not he is a guardian. He can do this even if his name is not on the the childs birth certificate, or where his application for joint guardianship has been refused. The Children Act, 1997 gives any person related to the child by blood or by adoption, such as grandparents, the right to apply to the District Court for permission to apply for access. This could also apply to a partner or spouse of the childs mother or father who may have lived with the child and acted (in loco parentis) in the place of a parent. Parents or relatives of a child in the care of the Health Service Executive can also apply for access. A relative granted permission to apply for access by the court must then go forward with the process of applying for access. Being granted leave to apply for access does not mean that access has been granted. Supervised access The court may, in some cases, grant access on the condition that it is supervised. How to make an application for access Most applications for access are made in the District Court. You can engage a solicitor to make an application on your behalf or you can make the application yourself. You may be entitled to legal aid. If you choose not to engage a solicitor you will need to contact the District Court office in the area where you or the respondent live. You must complete and lodge the relevant court forms in the court office. Court staff will identifythe forms you need tomake your application but cannot tell you what to put in the forms. Notice of the application must be served on the respondent at least fourteen days or, in the case of proceedings certified as urgent, at least two days, before the date of the court hearing. After service, the notice, together with a statutory declaration as to service, must be lodged with the District Court clerk at least two days before the date of the court hearing. You must also attend in court on the day to make your application. Where the District Court makes an order under the Act, the court clerk will give, or send by ordinary post, a copy of the order to each person in whose favour or against whom the order was made. Sometimes applications for custody and access form part of other proceedings for example, judicial separation or divorce in the Circuit Court or the High Court. In such cases the appropriate court to deal with an application for custody and/or access is the court dealing with the other proceedings. This includes applications to vary or discharge previous custody and/or access orders. Court forms District Court: S.I. No.125 of 1999: District Court (Custody and Guardianship of Children) Rules,1999 Form 58.17: Notice of application to apply for custody, access, maintenance - section 11(1) and 11 (4) Form: 10.1 Statutory Declaration As To Service By Registered Prepaid Post Pursuant To (Section 7 Of The Courts Act, 1964) / (Section 22 Of The Courts Act, 1991) Form: 10.2 Statutory Declaration As To Service By Prepaid Registered Post Pursuant To Section 7 Of The Courts Act, 1964 Form: 10.3 Statutory Declaration As To Service By Post Circuit Court: S.I. No. 358 of 2008:Circuit Court Rules (Case Progression) Form 37L: Summons to attend case progression hearing Form 37N: Case progression questionnaire High Court: S.I. No. 15 of 1986: Rules of the Superior Courts - Order 70 to top Relevant legislation Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964 Courts Act, 1986 Children Act, 1997 Court rules S.I. No. 93 of 1997: District Court Rules S.I. No. 510 of2001: Circuit Court Rules S.I. No. 312 of 2007: Circuit Court Rules (General) 2007 S.I. No. 358 of 2008: Circuit Court Rules (Case Progression in Family Law Proceedings), 2008 S.I. No. 15 of 1986: Superior Court Rules
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 01:05:43 +0000
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