Michael Gove gave conflicting advice on breakfast television yesterday morning on what to do about seeing your children if you are a separated parent during the coronavirus lockdown.
When speaking to ITV, he said that children must remain with the parent they are with for the duration of the coronavirus lockdown. If it goes this far this could leave one parent without contact to their children for a number of weeks.
However, when speaking to BBC he changed that position to say that children could move between parents for contact to take place during the coronavirus lockdown.
It is clear that movement of children between parents does present a risk as they go from one household to another. This could be a huge public health issue.
These times are utterly unprecedented and we are facing the biggest threat to human life for generations. How does children spending time with their parents fall into that?
Coronavirus lockdown – Contact with children
Until there is clear guidance from the Government then the default position is to abide by the terms of your Court order if you have one.
If you do not have a Court order then you should immediately take advice from your solicitor as this is something they can help you with.
Arrangements for children to keep in touch with both parents are crucial at this time of isolation. It is important that you act quickly to settle the arrangements knowing this could be a long-term lockdown.
How Nelsons can help
Melanie Bridgen is a Partner in our Family Law team.
At Nelsons, we have a full team of expert family lawyers who are able to advise on child arrangements during isolation keeping fully up-to-date with Government advice and, predominantly, the health, safety and welfare of children and their families.
For further information, please contact Melanie or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.