"We cannot agree on our child’s school, what do we do?"

"My ex-partner and I have a son aged 4. We have agreed everything, the time he spends with his dad, holidays etc. What we can not agree on, is which school he should go to. We are different faiths, and each want him to go to a school which practices our own faith."

Parental Responsibility

More often that not, both parents now have Parental Responsibility. Parental Responsibility gives the parent/guardian the right to be involved in making the decision on which school the child goes to.

Try and reach an agreement?

Is it possible to reach an agreement by discussion or mediation? For example, have you both looked at the respective schools, what are the pro’s and con’s of both. Your child has two parents that love him and want the best for him – he will want to know about your respective religious beliefs. Can you agree on one school with your son having an out of school activity which teaches and promotes the other faith?

What if we still can't agree on the school?

If it has not been possible to reach an agreement, then the next step, unfortunately, would be to refer the matter onto the court, for the magistrates or judge to make a decision, the application would be either for:

• Specific Issue Order:The court will decide which school the child will attend or

• Prohibited Steps Order: If the child attends school already and the other parent has indicated that they will remove the child from the school – the court can Prohibit that.

The Court Process

The court process can be long, in the circumstances, dealing with issues such as schooling need to be considered at least a year before the application for the school is made.

The court will do a full investigation and will want to know:

What each parents’ proposals are for school

Why they propose that school

How the parents will encourage the child to learn the other parents’ faith

Seek Legal Advice as soon as possible

As soon as you become aware that there is an issue, seek legal advice.

How can we help?

At Lawson West we offer a fixed fee consultation when you can discuss the law and process relating to these matters.

If you believe you have a situation where you require legal advice, please contact us on telephone 0116 212 1000 or 01858 445 480, alternatively complete the free Contact Us form and we will get in touch as soon as possible.

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