Child contact
A child has the right to contact with both parents. As parents, you therefore have a joint responsibility to ensure that your child has appropriate contact with both parents. The child has a right to contact with the parent with whom he/she does not live.
Contact does not depend on who has custody and in most cases parents themselves agree on how the child’s contact should be arranged.
If you make your own agreement
If you yourselves set up an agreement on contact, your agreement is just as binding as an agreement or decision made by the Agency of Family Law. If you agree on how contact should be arranged, you do not need to contact the Agency of Family Law. This form is available for the contact agreements you yourselves make.
You do not need to submit the agreement to the Agency of Family Law. Simply sign the agreement in two copies and keep one copy each.
The agreement you make can be used to enforce contact with the help of the bailiff’s court if the parent with whom the child lives is no longer willing to honour the agreement. It is, however, a prerequisite that the agreement explicitly states that it can be used as a basis for enforcement. When you sign an agreement on contact, you should be aware that the Agency of Family Law is usually only able to amend the agreement if circumstances have significantly changed since the date on which the agreement was made.
If you need help to make an agreement
If required, the Agency of Family Law can help you draft an agreement on how much your child should see the parent with whom the child does not live. If we cannot help you reach an agreement, the Agency of Family Law can decide how much contact the child should have with the parent with whom the child does not live. A child aged 10 or above may ask the Agency of Family Law to call his/her parents for a meeting to discuss contact.
If you are in doubt about what may be best for your child or you cannot reach agreement, the Agency of Family Law will be able to assist you.