"A presumption that the involvement of both parents in a child’s life will further that child’s welfare, unless the contrary is shown" is included in the government's new Children and Families Bill. The bill also makes it easier to move children from foster care to adoption, removes ethnic-religious adoption restrictions, and lets foster parents become the child's adoptive parents. It also regulates and restricts expert witnesses in child-related cases, and seeks to clarify when mediation is required before filing a child custody case.
It repeals divorce law provisions that let a court delay the granting of a divorce, or give only a non-absolute divorce, to accommodate the needs of a child under 16.
The Bill would also finally repeal nearly all of the landmark Family Law Act 1996, which was never implemented. The 1996 Act reduced waiting periods for no-fault divorce but also eliminated "quickie" divorce on fault grounds, replacing both with a single one-year period for reflection and consideration, during which courts would provide information sessions and mediation. It also provided for indefinitely blocking a divorce that "would result in substantial financial or other hardship" for a spouse or a child. One of the few divorce reforms in history that was a product of thorough, educated debate in which scores of legislators studied deeply and understood the magnitude of their choices, it was a model for other countries' reforms, including the U.S.'s Second Chances Act and Parental Divorce Reduction Act.
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