A Residence Order is the new term for a 'custody' order. It decides where and
with whom a child should live. It is only necessary for a court to decide this
if the parents cannot agree but sometimes an order is needed to give some other
adult parental responsibility, such as a relative who is actually caring for a
child and would not otherwise have any legal status.
Residence can be a fertile area for disputes between parents about power. One
parent may seek 'sole residence' to protect a child from abduction because the
police argue that both parents have the right to have the child live with them.
Another may seek 'shared residence' to demonstrate that they have equal rights
and responsibility.
Parliament has left this issue to judges and the Court of Appeal has shown
considerable intelligence in insisting that both parents have important roles to
play in their children's upbringing. It is not one-sided but for the children's
sake, parents need to come up with something that will work for the children,
not the parents. It does not mean that 'shared care' means 'equal care.'
There is no rule in law, by the way, to say that children should normally
live with their mother rather than their father, although statistically of
course that's more common. There is a tendency however for Courts to be slow to
change an arrangement already made and working; and Courts are always reluctant
to split children up if at all possible.