Practice Areas
Visitation
Family matters were not to be decided strictly on the yardstick of procedural laws nor any other principle aimed at the observance of technicalities. Paramount consideration before the court must be the welfare of the minor and betterment of the minor. Courts in such a matter are required to act in a loco parentis position and many matters are required to be kept into consideration by the guardian court, which is not always the practice observed by the courts adjudicating guardian and custody matters pending adjudication in Pakistan. What has actually been done in a vast majority of cases pending in multiple guardian courts in Pakistan is that the non-custodial parents are subjected to abuse and victimization in the name of procedural technicalities especially during the pendency of divorce and custody-of-minor proceedings. Even after waiting for months for the first face-to-face meeting with his/her own children, the non-custodial parent gets an extremely limited visitation schedule to meet the children. This visitation schedule is often as little as ONCE IN A MONTH FOR TWO HOURS WITHIN COURT PREMISES. Surprisingly, this visitation schedule is being followed widely in the guardian courts of Pakistan for over decades and has now established precedence. In other words, “once a month for 2 hours in court” has become a “template” of visitation orders being granted to non-custodial parents in guardian courts. In addition, even the aforementioned visitation schedule of TWO HOURS can be conveniently avoided by a custodial parent simply by presenting a fake medical certificate showing they are unable to make it. In such cases the non-custodial parent is left with no choice but to wait for the next scheduled meeting. The guardian courts are generally very casual towards such excuses furnished by custodial parents.
Parental Alienation Syndrome
We witnessed in most cases the flawed court systems were being manipulated to take revenge from the non-custodial parent (which is usually the father) by not letting him meet his children. It is extremely easy to delay proceedings simply by filing frivolous applications/appeals and assailing the orders to higher courts. Using similar delaying tactics, thousands of children are kept from meeting their non-custodial parent for months and in some cases, years. The guardian courts are unwilling to acknowledge the simple fact that the nature of a child custody case is entirely different from routine civil cases. Child custody litigation is a true representative of judicial litigation where “justice delayed is justice denied”. The mind of a child is like a perishable commodity. With the passage of time it is easy to change the innocent mind. Within months, due to a lack of interaction with the non-custodial parent and constant brain-washing by the custodial parent and his/her family, the children start losing memory of, and in many cases, start disliking, the non-custodial parent who was once extremely dear and loved. This phenomenon has been named by psychiatrists as the Parental Alienation Syndrome or “PAS”.
Dowery Articles/Dower
Often in Parenting Matters, the child suffers the most as they feel to blame for the relationship breakdown, creating feelings of rejection and guilt.
we understand your children are the most important consideration, therefore we endeavour to reach agreements quickly and respectfully, minimising disruption.
Our team will provide expert advice on the best outcome to protect your best interests as you transition from being a family that lives in one home to be a family that has two homes for your children.
Not all family law disputes need to end up in Court. We favour a conciliatory and mediation approach where possible, and encourage you to carefully consider the route to be taken for your family, rather than simply focusing on the outcome.
Maintenance
No upper or lower limit of maintenance is fixed, rather, the Islam ties the issue with the means of men, i.e. if the person is well off he must maintain his wife and children according to his standard, at the same time, if the means of the husband are limited he is still not absolved of his responsibility of maintaining his wife and minor children
quantum of interim maintenance was to be “bare minimum” to meet the day to day needs of the recipients in the narrow context. Although the Family Laws had been enacted to promote, protect and advance the rights of woman and children yet at this stage the version of the defendant be given a sympathetic or some-what preferable consideration because non-payment of maintenance allowance would cut throat of his valuable rights
Shared Parenting
Divorce / Separation is always between spouses and never between parents, a child usually plays no role in separation of his parents hence we staunchly believe that by restricting access of the child towards his / her non-custodial parent is like punishing the child for a wrong he has never committed.
A child must get a sense of belonging and social security and he should not feel that he has a broken family or develop self-pity. Peer pressure has negative impact on the tender and impressionable mind of the child. In the absence of simultaneous association with both the parents, the child miss’s completeness of his relationship. Therefore, shared custody should be an option open for the court to offer to the parents and make them aware of not only their child’s needs but also the child’s rights.
Child Custody Litigation
The law pertaining to guardianship and regulating the custody of children in Pakistan is known as the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890. The primary consideration in guardian courts, whilst granting custody of minors to either parent or sometimes to grandparents or other relatives, is the welfare of the minor. The said law is the main mode of attaining custody of children. In guardian/ custody proceedings pending adjudication in a family/ guardian court there are three parties to the said proceedings, the Custodial Parent, the Non-Custodial Parent and the Minor.
Guardianship
Guardianship is where a person is responsible for the care and well-being of a child and has the legal authority to consent on behalf of a child. Under a guardianship arrangement, the child’s parents maintain their parental rights. However, courts overturn guardianship only if it is convinced that the guardian is no longer capable of caring for the child or maintaining his or her safety.
Joint Guardianship
Provisions of the Guardian & Wards Act 1890 authorizes the court to appoint a guardian for the person or property, or both, of a minor, if it is satisfied that it is necessary for the ‘welfare of the minor’. It also authorizes the Court to appoint Joint Legal Guardian of the minor subject the personal law of the minor permits.
Counselling
The process of counselling has two functions:
- To help the person talk about, explore and understand his or her thoughts and feelings and workout that what he or she might do before taking action.
- To help the person decide on his or her own solutions. Lawyers counsel the client in deciding how his problem can be sorted out under the laws. Legal counselling is the process by which a lawyer communicates advice to a client.
Consultancy
Child Custody Law Services in Pakistan is a Law firm providing legal, family and technical consultancy / solutions through lawyers, advocates, while performing all the functions of a traditional law firm in Pakistan. Although legal services are the backbone to the consultancy we provide complete business solutions from compromise to shared parenting arrangements, at home visitation rights, joint guardianship, civil disputes, domestic violence disputes and more. Our Offices are Located in major cities of Pakistan (Lahore, Gujrat, Sialkot, Rawalpindi and Karachi) however, we have affiliate lawyers and consultants working in many other cities of Pakistan to facilitate our respected clientage.