Family lawyer Jenny Beck, of Dunedin, said she had received many calls from concerned parents over the past week, asking for advice about how they should deal with child custody agreements at this time.
She said the overriding consideration was for parents to make decisions that were in the best interests of their children.
Directions from Principal Family Court Judge Jacquelyn Moran stated if there was a shared care arrangement and the families were in different towns or communities, the safety of the children and others in their family units should not be compromised by movement between those homes, particularly if there are more than two homes involved.
Mrs Beck said that meant if a parent wanted to send their child from Dunedin to another parent in Auckland, that would not be possible.
“That just couldn’t happen. Even sending them to somewhere like Palmerston, that’s too far, because it’s not the same community.
“The travel in between could not be considered essential travel.
“Rightly or wrongly, we’re interpreting Dunedin and Mosgiel as being the same community. But anywhere outside Dunedin, really isn’t.”
She said, generally, children in the same communities could continue to go between their homes, unless a child or parent was ill, either was immunocompromised, had contact with someone who had the virus, or a parent was unable to look after their child because they were away from home doing essential services.
In those cases, it would be wise for parents to talk to each other.
“They really need to discuss it between themselves and reach some sort of agreement.
“It may be that they decide to divide the time up between themselves in a different way.”
They could arrange for one parent to have the child for four weeks and the other parent could have the child for an equivalent amount of time, following the lock down, she said.
Judge Moran said parents must put aside their conflict at this time and make decisions that were in the best interests of the child and their families and the wider community.
“This global pandemic should not be seen as an opportunity for parents to unilaterally change established care arrangements without cause or otherwise behave in a manner inconsistent with the child’s best interests or the court-ordered care arrangements.”
She said children were precious and now, more than ever, was a time to focus on their wellbeing and safety.
“It is important that their loved ones are also safe and well, and that children know that, and are able to see their parents and caregivers lead by example.”
Mrs Beck said local families had been very accepting of the Family Court directions.
“Even if it went against their interests, they [parents] were happy and accepting of that.”
