How are custody, care and control decided in a Singapore divorce?

Three separate questions

Singapore law splits the arrangements for children into three parts. It helps to keep them apart, because a parent who does not have care and control is still a parent with a real say in the child's life.

• Custody: the right to make major decisions about the child's upbringing, such as education, religion, and serious medical treatment.
• Care and control: which parent the child lives with and who makes everyday decisions.
• Access: the time the child spends with the parent who does not have care and control, which can include weekday visits, overnight stays, holidays, and calls.

Custody is usually joint

The courts' starting point is that both parents should remain involved in major decisions, so joint custody is the norm. Sole custody is unusual and is generally ordered only where co-operation is impossible or a parent poses a risk to the child.

How care and control is decided

Care and control is usually given to one parent, with generous access for the other. Shared care and control, where the child lives with both parents for substantial periods, is possible where the parents live close by and can communicate well, but it is not the default.

In deciding, the court looks at the child's welfare as a whole. Relevant factors include:

• who has been the child's main caregiver so far;
• the need for stability and continuity in the child's routine and schooling;
• each parent's ability to meet the child's needs, including work commitments and support from family;
• the child's own wishes, where they are old enough to express them; and
• keeping siblings together where possible.

How the court gets the information

For contested matters involving children, the court may order a custody evaluation report, or appoint a Child Representative to speak for the child. Judges sometimes interview older children privately. Parents are also directed to counselling and mediation through the Family Justice Courts, and many arrangements are agreed there without a hearing.

Parenting after divorce

Arrangements can be varied later if circumstances change, for example if a parent relocates or the child's needs change. A detailed parenting plan agreed at the outset, covering school holidays, festive days, and how decisions will be made, prevents many disputes down the line.

Relocating overseas with a child is a separate and serious question. It needs the other parent's consent or the court's permission.