So first thing you have to keep in mind when it comes to custody and access is that the right to Access your children only comes into play when parents separate or never stayed together at all,
When parents separate one walks away with custody of the children whilst the other keeps the title of guardian. The one who does not stay with the child has a right to access the children from time to time so that they create or maintain a parent-child bond. However, it happens that the parent who stays with the kid may deny the other a chance to bond with the child for several reasons that are sometimes unjustifiable.
When this happens, the law offers a remedy to such problems and that remedy is the right to Access. This is in very simple terms your right as a non-custodial parent to be visited by your children and temporarily stay with them so that a bond is created or maintained. It is there so that the effects of separation do not negatively impact the normal psychological lives of children. Recognizing this right and offering a court procedure to assert this right means that the law is aware of the fact that children need both a father and mother in their lives.
So when parents do not agree on how often the other parent should have access to the children, it is up to the parent who is not happy with the prevailing arrangement to go to Court by making a Court Application wherein they state that they are the father or the mother of the children and that they are separated with the other parent. There is nothing else you have to prove for the Court to give you reasonable access to your children.
Reasonable Access can vary on a situation-by-situation basis however, normally the Court gives a parent the right to have access to their children on alternating weekends and school holidays. The order that the Court issues out, will be expressly stating how long the intermittent periods of access will be and where the children are to be fetched. All this can be done at any Magistrates Court in Zimbabwe.
To enforce this right you need to be aware of the address upon which the other parent stays to serve your Court Application. It is quite a simple and convenient procedure the law has to offer. If after the issuance of the order the other parent still blocks the other from seeing the children, one can report to the police with a copy of the order. The Police can help in enforcing a Court Order.
The author of this snippet is Simon Flemming Mutandi, a lawyer who writes in his personal capacity. The purpose of these pieces is to share insights into the law. The language and content is simplified to give the reader a digest of complex legal issues. For more information contact 0783475020 or email simonflemming1@gmail.com.
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