'McDonald's' dads on the way out

McDonald's dads who see their children for only a few hours a fortnight at a fast-food joint may soon pass into history under a radical law that took effect yesterday.

Chief Family Court Judge Peter Boshier says judges will interpret the new Care of Children Act to give both parents "optimum good quality time" with their children when the parents separate.

The new law also gives children the right to their own lawyers in separation tussles, gives grandparents and others in the wider family the right to seek parenting orders in the children's interests, and opens Family Courts to the media.

Judge Boshier said a wording change from "custody" to "day-to-day care" of children meant both parents were now expected to exercise more parental responsibility.

"We have had too many parenting arrangements where one parent has not been parenting as much as they should," he said.

"I think there will be a change in our attitude to the extent of the time that children will spend with each parent.

"It hasn't been unusual for one parent to have custody the greater bulk of the time and the other simply to have 'access'.

"Our thinking now is that may have been historically acceptable, but is no longer necessarily tenable.

"That is a longer-term sociological change. A lot of parents these days both work. That was not the case in 1968 when there might have been one breadwinner and the other parent stayed at home."

The act is the first major change in the field since the Guardianship Act of 1968, which defined guardianship as "the custody of a child and the right of control over the upbringing of a child".

The new act removes the words "custody" and "control" and says a guardian has "all duties, powers, rights and responsibilities that a parent of the child has in relation to the upbringing of the child".

It says the welfare and best interests of the children must be paramount in handling their parents' separation, requiring a judge to hear and take account of the children's views, giving them an automatic right to their own lawyers and making their lawyers meet them in any case involving day-to-day care or contact that is likely to go to court.

At the same time, the Government is introducing seminars for parents when they first seek parenting orders, teaching them how to minimise the effects on the children.

An Auckland family lawyer who helped to develop the seminars, Brian Gubb, said they taught parents simple skills to avoid fighting in front of the children, such as meeting at cafes or ringing after the children were asleep.

"If there is no indication of conflict, the effect on children is not great. If there is conflict, there are enormous problems in the children."

Judge Boshier said the changes would reinforce the goal of reaching agreement without the need to go to court.

The Care of Children Act also gives judges a new power to jail parents who breach Family Court orders for up to three months, and increases the maximum fines to $2500.

Auckland District Law Society family law spokesman Stuart Cummings said the law change was "a watershed and an opportunity to do things differently".

"It's your classic double-edged piece of legislation saying to the parents, 'For heaven's sake, these are your children. You are fully functional adults - can you not identify what your children need and make those arrangements yourselves?'

"But if you can't, you are devolving your power to decide the welfare of your children to someone who doesn't even know them."

Care of children

* Reporters are allowed in Family Courts provided they do not report facts that would identify anyone involved.
* "Custody" becomes "day-to-day care" of children, "access" becomes "contact", and custody and access orders become "parenting orders".
* Parenting orders may be sought by the children's parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters.
* Fathers become automatic joint guardians of their children if they were living with or married to the children's mother during her pregnancy.
* Children have their own lawyers and the right to meet them.
* Everyone granted day-to-day care or contact should co-operate in the children's care and upbringing.