In an adjudication on permission to deny parentage or permission for recognition of a child, whose opinion may the family court take, and by what methods?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
For this exercise, the file holds the application showing which of the two adjudication types is before the court, the papers identifying the mother's former spouse and whether an adult guardian has been appointed, and the record noting whether the statement was taken by questioning, a family court investigator's inquiry or a written request.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the opportunity as the family court's to give: in an adjudication on permission to deny parentage, or on permission for recognition of a child under the paragraphs the provision names, the court may let the mother's former spouse and, where one exists, that spouse's adult guardian state an opinion, by questioning, through a family court investigator, or by written inquiry.
Another reading stresses the words 'may give': the opportunity is owed to nobody, and only two people are named, the mother's former spouse and that spouse's adult guardian, the latter only where such a guardian exists. So the former spouse cannot be heard on behalf of a guardian who was never appointed, and the provision leaves open what the file must show if the former spouse is not traced or declines to answer.
Your judgment
If the former spouse cannot be located, what in the file could show that the family court considered giving that opportunity anyway?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look again if the provision is amended to make the opportunity mandatory or to name other persons, or if a court decision on the Family Litigation Act explains what the record must show when the opportunity is not given.