5Custody of minor

5 Custody of minor

5 Custody of minor

(1) The Supreme Court may, upon the application of the mother of any minor, make such order as it may think fit regarding the custody of the minor and the right of access thereto of either parent, having regard to the welfare of the minor, and to the conduct of the parents, and to the wishes as well of the mother as of the father.

The fact that a parent contemplates leaving the State shall not of itself be regarded as a reason for denying such parent the custody of the minor or depriving such parent thereof if the court is satisfied that the welfare of the minor will best be served by allowing such parent to have or retain such custody.

(2) The power of the court under this section to make an order as to the custody of a minor and the right of access thereto may be exercised notwithstanding that the mother of the minor is then residing with the father of the minor.

(3) Where the court under this section makes an order giving the custody of the minor to the mother, then, whether or not the mother is then residing with the father, the court may further order that the father shall pay to the mother towards the maintenance of the minor such weekly or other periodical sum as the court, having regard to the means of the father, may think reasonable.

(4) No such order, whether for custody or maintenance, shall be enforceable and no liability shall accrue while the mother resides with the father, and any such order shall cease to have effect if for any continuous period of three months after it is made the mother of the minor resides with the father.

(5) (Repealed)

(6) The powers of the court under this section to make orders regarding the custody of a minor, and the right of access thereto of either parent, may be exercised upon the application of the father of a minor in like manner as those powers may be exercised upon the application of the mother of the minor.

(7) In any case in which a parent of a minor is dead, the court may, on the application of any relative of that parent, make such order as to access to the minor by such relative as to the court seems fit.

(8) Any order made under this section may, on the application either of the father or the mother or any guardian of the minor, be varied or discharged by a subsequent order.

(9) (Repealed)

s 5: Subst 1934 No 20, sec 2 (a). Am 1970 No 52, Second Sch (am 1972 No 41, Second Sch); 1970 No 60, First Sch; 2005 No 28, Sch 5.23.