Ideally when couples separate they can agree the future arrangements for their children’s upbringing but when they cannot, the court is there to decide.

Since its introduction Section 1 of the Children Act 1989 has provided that, when the court determines any question with respect to the upbringing of a child “the child’s welfare shall be the court’s paramount consideration” – the “welfare test”. In assessing what is in a child’s best interest the court has regard to the various factors set out in the “welfare checklist”. These include a number of obvious matters not least the child’s physical, em...