The first thing to understand is that custody and maintenance are separate questions, decided separately. A parent without custody still owes maintenance, and non-payment of maintenance is not a reason to refuse contact.
The second, which matters greatly in practice: a child born to parents who never registered their marriage is in law the child of the mother alone. The father acquires legal rights and duties only by registering legitimation or by a court judgment — a step many fathers do not know about.
We act for parents seeking custody, for those seeking maintenance, and for those being kept from their children.
What the court weighs
- Who has actually cared for the child day to day, and the bond that exists.
- Stability of home, school and the environment the child knows.
- Each parent's capacity to care — time and readiness, not income alone.
- The parents' conduct, so far as it affects the child.
- The child's own view, according to age and maturity.
- Each parent's willingness to let the child see the other. Obstruction usually counts against the parent doing it.
Maintenance
There is no fixed formula. The court weighs the child's needs against the payer's means, taking into account schooling, medical care, housing and daily costs.
- Prepare a schedule of the child's actual costs with evidence, rather than proposing a round figure with no basis.
- Agree how the amount increases with age or cost of living, or you will be back in court within a few years.
- Set a verifiable method of payment, such as transfer to a dedicated account. Cash is hard to prove when a dispute arises.
- The duty ends at majority, unless the child cannot support themselves through disability.
When the other parent does not comply
- Unpaid maintenance under a judgment is enforced like any other judgment debt — attachment of wages and seizure of assets.
- Obstruction of court-ordered contact can be enforced by application, and is a ground for the court to revisit custody later.
- Taking a child abroad without consent is urgent and must be acted on immediately; delay makes it far harder to undo.
What to bring
- The child's birth certificate and the house registration they are listed on.
- The marriage or divorce registration and any agreement attached to it.
- Evidence of the child's costs: school fees and medical expenses.
- Evidence of both parents' income.
- A record of past contact and communication, which shows the bond that exists.
This page is general information, not advice on your situation. Cases about children turn heavily on their own facts, and the court puts the child's interests above what the parents have agreed.