Parenting and Contact Orders During COVID-19

Parenting and Contact Orders During COVID-19

CONTACT DURING LEVEL 4

Many grandparents and caregivers have concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 Lockdown  on contact/access orders and agreements, and the management of these arrangements during this period.   

Some grandparents have expressed concerns for their own health and safety as well as for their grandchildren.

Some face pressure from non-custodial parents to comply with agreements or court-ordered supervised or unsupervised contact with their children during Level 4 lockdown periods.

During Level 4, the important thing to remember is that you must maintain your family/household bubble and not have contact with anyone beyond your family bubble. 

Below is updated information from the Government's web-page on shared care/parenting and contact arrangements.
 

Shared Care/Contact at Alert Level 4

During Alert Level 4, tamariki (children) whose parents or caregivers have a shared care arrangement can continue to go between 2 homes if you have a shared bubble arrangement. 

Your shared bubble can include 2 households at most, and the other household must be in the same or adjacent district.

If you need to travel for parenting purposes, we recommend you carry a copy your parenting agreement, for example a Court Order and proof of address as evidence of your travel. 

There are some simple things you can do to keep you and your tamariki (children) safe. 

• Stay 2 metres away when meeting parents or caregivers from the other household.   
• Tamariki (children) should stay in one home if they are feeling unwell, or if someone in their home is unwell or has been overseas in the last 14 days.
• Wear a face covering if you use public transport or a ride-share service to travel to the other parent or caregiver's home. 

Please also see:  Advice on shared parenting at Alert Level 4 | justice.govt.nz

 

COURT PROTOCOLS

The NZ Courts have established protocols for dealing with various types of cases during COVID-19 Alert Levels which can be found at:  https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/publications/announcements/covid-19/court-protocols/

In March 2020 the Principal Family Court Judge also provided some clarification regarding children in shared care/contact order situations which can be read here:  https://www.districtcourts.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Media-Releases/24-March-2020-Children-in-shared-care.pdf
 

CONTACT DURING LEVEL 3

When NZ shifts to Alert Level 3 at some point, the ability to expand your bubble is usually made more possible with travel within a region.  Our caution below about extending your bubble/including non-custodial parents in your bubble still applies.

The overriding consideration at this time is that decisions need to be made that are in the best interest of the children. (Please see our Caution below).

The New Zealand Family Court Judge has provided advice on this issue which is set out below.  Before reading the advice, we are advising grandparent and whanau caregivers to consider the following caution to help them make decisions.

CAUTION:

The majority of our grandparent and whanau caregivers are aged over 50 years. 

Many also have underlying health conditions including lung conditions and age-related conditions.

Some of our families are also caring for children and young people who have special needs, rare and/or chronic conditions that impact their immunity.  They are in the high-risk group of our society of becoming seriously ill if they contract COVID-19.

When making “in the best interests" decisions about the tamariki and rangatahi in your care, you also need to consider the important role that you play in their lives as their caregivers, providing for their day to day care and essential needs and what would be the consequences for the children if you were not there to provide for their care?

Consider the fact that New Zealand is in lockdown to stop the spread of the virus and stamp it out so that we can return to our daily lives without the restrictions of a lockdown.  We are all in this together and we all have an important part to play in ensuring the success of this effort.

The Government has declared that the risk of community transmission and the risk to people in the high risk groups in our community is too high to allow us to move outside our “bubbles” and to have close contact with others in the community.

The Government’s and the Principal Family Court Judge’s advice during the 2020 Lockdowns was that if you have a shared bubble arrangement between two households (at most) that live no more than one-hour drive apart, the contact could continue.

Trust is very important when making decisions about whether to arrange close contact through supervised or unsupervised contact between a child in your care and their non-custodial parent or guardian. 

You need to be satisfied that the non-custodial parent or guardian will maintain their self-isolation bubble and share it only with you, and that they will not expose you and your family to risk.

If you are not satisfied, do not share your bubble.  Instead take reasonable steps to maintain indirect contact by phone or the use of other technology. e.g. Facetime, WhatsApp video calls and Zoom. 

If you would like to talk to one of our advocates for help with your circumstances, please contact us on 0800 GRANDS (0800 472 637) or 09 4183753 or email us or make contact through our Contact Us page.

New Zealand Family Court Advice in 2020

“The best thing everyone can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 is to stay home. This includes parents with shared custody arrangements, and their children. The Principal Family Court Judge has released guidance for parents with shared custody arrangements.

Generally, children whose parents live within an hour’s drive of each other can continue to go between 2 homes if you have a shared bubble arrangement. Your shared bubble can include 2 households at most. An arrangement with more than 2 households would risk spreading COVID-19. Simple precautions should be taken to protect the health of parents and children. This includes parents from different households keeping a distance of more than 2 metres.

If parents are more than an hour’s drive away, then the children should stay in one home. Children should also stay in one home if they're feeling unwell, or if someone in their home is unwell or has been overseas in the last 14 days. This will protect the health of parents, caregivers and children."

Ministry of Justice Advice

The Ministry of Justice website also contains the following important advice about continued contact/shared care during the lockdown:

"Travel between homes needs to be consistent with Ministry of Health guidance.

Children can continue to move between two homes, unless:

• It is more than one hour's drive (one way) between homes;
• The child is unwell. In this case the child should not travel between homes until they are well;
• Someone in either home is unwell;
• Someone involved (i.e. the child or people in the home they have been in or will go to) has been overseas in the last 14 days, OR has been in close contact with someone who is currently being tested for COVID-19 OR has been in close contact with someone who has the virus or is being tested."

Further Note

We recommend that you read the information on the official Government websites on this issue and consider the recommendations in the context of our Caution above when making decisions for you and your whanau. 

If there is a dispute between you and the non-custodial parent who is seeking contact with the child(ren) in your care or they have Court-ordered contact/access, the Family Court would look to see whether you have made reasonable decisions that are in the best interests of the children and whether you have taken all reasonable steps to arrange alternative indirect methods to ensure some contact during the lockdown.

• COVID-19.GOVT.NZ website information on this issue
• Ministry of Justice website information