Status of Children Act 1987

Amendment of section 3 of the Act of 1976.

16

16.—Section 3 of the Act of 1976 is hereby amended in subsection (1)—

(a) by the insertion after the definition of “Court” of the following definition:

“‘dependent child’ means any child (including a child whose parents are not married to each other) who is under the age of sixteen years, or, if he has attained that age—

(a) is or will be or, if an order were made under this Act providing for periodical payments for his support, would be receiving full-time education or instruction at any university, college, school or other educational establishment and is under the age of twenty-one years, or

(b) is suffering from mental or physical disability to such extent that it is not reasonably possible for him to maintain himself fully;”,

(b) by the substitution for the definition of “dependent child of the family” of the following definition:

“‘dependent child of the family’, in relation to a spouse or spouses, means any dependent child—

(a) of both spouses, or adopted by both spouses under the Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1976, or in relation to whom both spouses are in loco parentis, or

(b) of either spouse, or adopted by either spouse under the Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1976, or in relation to whom either spouse is in loco parentis, where the other spouse, being aware that he is not the parent of the child, has treated the child as a member of the family;”,

(c) by the insertion after the definition of “interim order” of the following definition:

“‘lump sum order’ means an order under section 21A of this Act;”,

(d) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “maintenance order”:

“‘maintenance order’ means, where the context requires, an order under either section 5 or 5A of this Act;”,

and

(e) by the insertion before the definition of “variation order” of the following definition:

“‘parent’, in relation to a dependent child, includes a person who has adopted the child under the Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1976, but does not include a person who is a parent of the child adopted under those Acts where the person is not an adopter of the child;”.