Removal of the parenting pathway and implications for equal time, substantial and significant time

The next significant change is the removal of the ‘parenting pathway’ from the legislation. The parenting pathway guided the court through the Act to reach a determination about what orders would be in the child’s best interest. In this week’s article, we have set out the changes to the parenting pathway, and what affect this has had on the concepts of ‘equal time’ and ‘substantial and significant time’.

Under the parenting pathway the court needed to determine whether equal shared parental responsibility applied. If the presumption was not rebutted, the court was then required to consider whether an order for equal time was in the child’s best interest and whether equal time was reasonably practicable.

If equal time was not appropriate, the court had to consider substantial and significant time for the parent the child was not living with. Under the Act substantial and significant time included time on weekdays, time on weekends, and special occasions. Substantial and significant time considerations also looked at whether the non-live with parent would be involved in the child’s routine and significant events.

The removal of the parenting pathway has also removed with it the concepts of ‘equal time’ and ‘substantial and significant time’. As we looked at in our previous article, the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility ahs also been removed by the new legislation.

Like the removal of the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility, the removal of the parenting pathway is likely to result in more nuanced orders for families.  

Please note: the information in this article is general in nature and is not legal advice. For legal advice about your circumstances, contact us to make an appointment with one of our solicitors.