Life is unpredictable and change is the only reality. If life has been going on its track without many twists and turns, you would have just been plain lucky, and you can do well to enjoy the streak of good phase in life. However, when things do take a turn for the worse, and when relationships turn acrid, you suddenly find yourself faced with a slew of issues that you may not have thought of earlier, and find yourself in a not-so-enviable position of having to take some tough decisions – such as child custody. Needless to say, child custody is such a critical issue of crucial importance on one’s life, that one gets swayed away by the sheer volume of emotions that one would have to deal with and handle. And that would add so much to the stress and strains associated with the break in relationships, when partners would have to face the inevitable prospect of parting ways, amidst all the acrimony and distaste associated with separation. Naturally, the highly emotional issue of child custody is something that you would not want to face in such an occasion of emotional turmoil.

The system, which lays stress on the welfare of children, mandates that the procedures related to family dispute resolution would have to be dealt with, before the issue of child custody is acted upon. The role of an accredited family dispute professional becomes pivotal here, as the couples would have to submit a certificate to the effect that formalities associated with family dispute have been resolved, before embarking on the important aspect of child custody. Of course, individual cases would be considered in all their uniqueness, without their being treated as a homogenous group of issues with standard rules and procedures. It is with due consideration to the interests of the child as well as both the parents that child custody issues are dealt with, paving the way for a better future for everyone involved.

The idea behind such judicial system is that the child has every right to enjoy a good relationship with both the parents, even if the parents themselves were at loggerheads with regard to child custody. And the emphasis is more attuned to the other facets of child custody, such as shared parenting, to ensure that the child remains the least affected in the entire problem. The best decisions are, in effect, taken after giving due consideration to the statements of both the parents in a child custody case, while bearing the child’s interests and future as the central consideration.