Legal Tales | Balancing rights and responsibilities: child custody in Hong Kong demystified
The true meaning of legal concepts such as custody and access is much misunderstood among laypeople in Hong Kong
The classic legal drama Kramer vs Kramer tells a very sad story of a couple, played by Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, fighting over who gets to keep their young son upon the breakdown of their marriage.
Those who watched the 1979 production, which clinched five Academy Awards, will no doubt remember the high level of hostility portrayed in the courtroom scenes.
Fast forward more than four decades, divorcing couples bitterly fighting over custody of their children in courts of law remain commonplace in Hong Kong.
As our law now stands, when a marriage breaks down and parents cannot agree on the future care arrangements of their children, litigation will ensue and the court will be called upon to make decisions relating to custody, care and control, and access.
These legal concepts have their origin from the law of the UK in the 1970s, since replaced there by more modernised concepts. Family law practitioners observe daily that there is considerable misunderstanding about the true meaning of such concepts among laypeople.
The concept of custody refers to the right to make decisions of real consequence affecting the upbringing and welfare of a minor. The usual examples of such decisions include whether the child should follow a religion, undergo a major medical operation, or which school he or she should attend.