Some sections of The Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 were commenced on 18th January 2016. This new legislation will directly affect many of our users.

The following are some of the changes:

The following are some of the changes:
• An unmarried father who is cohabiting with the mother of his child for at least one year, 3 months of which are following the birth of the child, will automatically have guardianship rights in respect of his child. This is not retrospective: only cohabitation after the commencement date (18/1/2016) will be taken into account. See fathers section
• Step-parents, grandparents and those who have acted in loco parentis may be eligible to apply for guardianship. See guardianship section
• The process whereby grandparents can apply for access to their grandchildren has been simplified. See grandparents section
• Enforcement procedures have been put in place where someone is in breach of a court order. See ‘Access and Custody of Children’
• A non-parent cohabitant may be obliged to pay maintenance in respect of a child he/she has been caring for. See maintenance section

The relevant sections of our website have been updated. If you are unclear about any matter please contact an information officer on 01-6700120 or e-mail info@treoir.ie with your contact details and a member of our information team will be happy to contact you.