SINGAPORE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Loh Wai Mooi, Wang Liansheng, Valerie Goh and Vaithieiswariy Kumar, Bih Li & Lee LLP
Custody of the child(ren) Another principle that is pivotal to the family law landscape in Singapore is the welfare of the chil - dren. This is the first and paramount considera - tion in every family law case. Hence, Singapore courts now almost always award joint custody unless they deem a parent to be “unfit”. A parent can be considered “unfit” for various reasons, even though such circum - stances are rare. Some examples include: • a history of family violence or emotional abuse towards the child; • mental health issues that impede a parent’s ability to make informed decisions for the child; • chronic substance abuse; • a criminal history that could endanger the child; and • signs that show a parent’s neglect and failure to make informed decisions and/or provide for the child’s basic needs. These are considerations that are unique to the circumstances of each case and they depend on the facts of each case. Care and control of child(ren) and access In the past, sole care and control was common where the children would reside with a parent and the other parent would have reasonable access to the children. However, in recent times, there has been a trend towards shared care and control, with more detailed arrangements on matters pertaining to the child, such as: • who will drop the children off at school and on which days of the week; • who will pick the children up from school and on which days of the week;
• what the periods of contact time with the respective parents will be; and • whether there will be extended periods of contact during school holidays, including overseas contact time. Stronger enforcement of child access orders came into effect on 2 January 2025 There have been developments in family law processes to achieve the outcomes of therapeu - tic justice. Non-compliance with access orders can significantly obstruct and impede the pro - cess of healing and moving forwards. As such, to signal the importance of complying with court orders, there has been stronger enforcement of child access orders. To ensure that the parties comply with child access orders, the family justice courts now have the power to make orders for compensa - tion of expenses, security pledges, performance bonds, make-up access and mandatory coun - selling, as follows. • Compensation of expenses – compensation expenses are to compensate a parent who pays for holiday accommodation or travel fares for the children but is deprived of child access by the other parent. In such an event, the parent who was gatekeeping and refusing access has to compensate the parent who paid for travel fares and/or holiday arrange - ments. • Security pledges and performance bonds – security pledges and performance bonds are also measures put in place to ensure that the parent with care and control allows access to the other parent. • Counselling and mediation – the family justice courts may order parents who breach access orders to attend mandatory counselling or mediation sessions. Through these sessions,
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