• Parenting Plans: A parenting plan is a document developed and agreed to by the parents of a minor child/ren, and approved by the Court, or if the parents cannot agree, established by the Court, which governs the relationship between the parents regarding the child (encompassing “access”, “parental responsibility”, “maintenance”, “guardianship” and “contact”).

A Parenting Plan is applicable when the parents of the minor child/ren are not married but are separated and a guideline is to be set up regarding the minor child/ren.

Aspects to consider:

• Joint Parental Responsibilities and Rights
• Contact with the minor child/ren
• Maintenance payable for the minor child/ren

• Guardianship Applications: Guardianship relates only to assisting the child in legal, contractual, and administrative matters, including safeguarding their property, as well as giving or refusing consent required by law in respect of a child.

The process of applying to the Court for Guardianship, includes drafting of the Application to be submitted to Court. These documents are filed in the High Court, as the High Court acts for the minor children. These documents are then served on the Respondent, whereafter the documents are uploaded onto the CaseLines platform (all High Court matters are dealt with via the online CaseLines platform), and a date is allocated for the trial. It is important to note that awarding the Applicant guardianship, does not take away the parental responsibilities and rights from the biological parents of the minor child/ren.

• Maintenance Disputes: Maintenance is the obligation to provide another person, for example a minor, with housing, food, clothing, education, and medical care.

In this regard, we assist the aggrieved party by first communicating with the party in default in an attempt to settle the matter amicably and without involving the Courts. Where maintenance has been ordered by a Court, be it in a divorce settlement or in the Maintenance Court, we assist parties in obtaining an order from the Maintenance Court that the party who fails to pay maintenance towards the minor child.