Can You Get Child Custody Support For A Disabled Child?

In the unfortunate event of children being born with a debilitating disability or chronic ailment,  or when they suffer from terrible accidents or illness, children with any one of these disabilities will require special care, sometimes more so than healthy children.  Measures have to be taken into account to ensure the welfare of disabled children during cases of child custody.

Disabled Child Care 

According to the Children’s Act 35 of 2005, “a child with a disability or chronic illness has the right not to be subjected to medical, social, cultural and religious practices that are detrimental to his or her health, well-being, and dignity”.

The above-mentioned means that every measure must be taken to accommodate the child to ensure their continued well-being by a parent or carer of a disabled child. It is furthermore, expected of the parents to go to great lengths to include the disabled and chronically ill child in social, religious, cultural and educational activities. Additionally, a prerequisite needed over and above this is to support the children in any other way in order to promote their own self-reliance.

Child Care and Custody Disputes

Custody and care disputes can be expected to be more difficult with regards to disabled and chronically ill children than cases involving children in finer fettle. As the needs of the disabled child are usually more complex more is expected of the carer and maintenance paid by one parent will usually be costlier than usual.

As courts, as well as legal professionals, will ensure that the parent in whose care the child is placed is best suited to taking charge of the child’s needs they also ensure that the best interests of the child are achieved.  Homes, where disabled children reside, will often require more space, as well as fixtures and features that accommodate their disabilities. The parent with the most time available to care for the disabled child will often be the preferred carer. It is important for cooperation between separated parents to ensure a stable upbringing for a child in the above-mentioned situation.

If you require more information regarding child care and child custody for disabled or chronically ill children, then make sure you contact Joselowitz & Andrews Attorneys today. Joselowitz & Andrews Attorneys specialises in all cases of child custody and is well-known throughout South Africa as a specialised practice in the legal field of child custody.