Pre-nups urged to avoid legal battles over child custody

PRE-NUPTIAL agreements should become the norm to avoid heated courtroom battles over access rights and custody to children, according to researchers from Trinity College Dublin.

A new study into post- separation parenting found that while many agreements made between separated parents in the circuit court are done with little acrimony, many estranged couples still return to the courts to sort out smaller details such as access during holidays.

The report, A Study of Separation and Divorce Agreements made in the Family Law Circuit Courts of Ireland and their Implications for Parent-Child Contact and Family Lives, looked at 134 cases relating to separation, divorce, maintenance, custody and accesswhich came before the circuit court in 2007.