When working to resolve financial claims between spouses, the court in deciding what financial relief should be provided for has regard to all circumstances of the case.
However, first consideration is given to the welfare of children under the age of 18.
With first consideration given to the needs of children, parents regrettably seek to position themselves as primary carers in order to seek financial rewards.
As an extreme but with increasing frequency, parents will seek to weaponize children to assist with resolving finances.
Attempts to weaponize children in financial remedy proceedings can stem from raising false allegations of abuse (either between parents which impact on children or between parents and children themselves) or concerns about a parent’s ability to meet children’s needs.
When allegations are raised this can have a direct impact on the time a child spends with a parent with this being suspended, limited or supervised.
By actively seeking to minimise a child’s time with a non-resident parent, the immediate financial benefits that follow are in relation to welfare benefits and child maintenance.
In respect of welfare benefits a resident parent can claim child benefit and, subject to their income threshold, universal credit, child tax credit and working tax credit.
In respect of child maintenance which is assessed on a statutory calculator, the less time that a child spends with his non-resident parent the more child maintenance must be paid.
It can therefore be said that some parents will follow an agenda to limit the time children spend with a non-resident parent to ensure that they receive more child maintenance.
It can also conversely be said that non-resident parents actively seek additional time with their children with the primary aim of reducing their child maintenance liability, with the desire to actively spend quality time with a child being a secondary consideration.
Turning to the court’s approach, it can be said that the greater dependency of a child with one parent can often mean the difference between a postcode and a bedroom to assist in meeting housing needs.
With children spending more time with one parent this may limit their ability to work and add to a pension, and so this may strengthen maintenance and pension claims.
Because of the potential financial rewards that come in civil partnership and divorce cases, it is easy to be sceptical about a parent following an agenda to weaponize children to reap financial rewards.
Where allegations of abuse have been raised and there are also private law proceedings, these are investigated to the point where a fact-finding hearing will determine what allegations are true and what are not.
