Coronation Street: Should Hope & Ruby Live With Fiz Or Tyrone?

This is the second blog that I have written about Hope and Ruby, the children of Fiz and Tyrone. Last time it was about Social Services and the risk of the children being taken into care. Today I am looking at what should happen to the girls now that Ty and Fiz have split up.

Fiz and Tyrone have two children. Hope is the daughter of Fiz and John Stape. Hope is the daughter of Tyrone and Kirsty Soames. They have lived together as a family of 4 since 2013 until recently Tyrone moved out to be with his young girlfriend Alina. The parents agreed the girls should stay together with Fiz but that is set to change tonight and there may be a battle ahead.

Legally Tyrone has no rights over Hope and Fiz has none over Ruby. The girls have been brought up as siblings but are not biologically related. The parents can agree for the girls to stay together with one of them or a shared care arrangement.

Dispute About Who The Girls Should Live With

If there is a dispute, the starting point would be that Hope should live with Fiz and Ruby with Tyrone as biological parents. If Fiz and Tyrone do not agree either of them could make an application to the Court. Fiz would apply for a Child Arrangements Order for Ruby to remain living with her and Hope. This is an Order under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989. Fiz would not need leave of the Court to apply as Ruby has lived with her for more than 3 years.

The first step in applying for a Child Arrangement Order is to attend a Mediation Information Assessment Meeting (MIAM). Both Fiz and Tyrone would be required to attend this meeting, during which a qualified mediator will consider whether an agreement on child arrangements might be reached through an alternative dispute resolution process such as mediation, or whether the case will need to go to the Court.

The Local Authority are not involved so this is a private law case. Tyrone and Fiz would need to pay privately to instruct a solicitor. There is no legal aid available. If an application to Court is made there would be a number of hearings. The Court would direct a report be obtained from a children and family reporter who is an officer appointed by Cafcass. The report will usually inform the Court of the child’s wishes and feelings, but the officer will make a recommendation based on what they think is in the child’s best interests rather than just report on the child’s wishes.

A Court will always consider what is in the best interests of the child and will use the Welfare Checklist before making their decision. This checklist requires them to consider things like the age, physical / emotional needs and wishes and feelings of the child, taking account of their age and maturity. The Court will also look at the capabilities of the parents to meet the physical and emotional needs of the child. There is a presumption of continued parental involvement by both parents, often referred to as shared parenting. It is worth noting that continued parental involvement does not necessarily mean an equal division of time.

I have seen many comments on fanzines suggesting that the children should stay with Fiz because it was Tyrone who left her for another woman. This is not relevant. The Court will not look who is to blame. The emphasis will be what is best for the girls.

John Stape died when Hope was a baby. However Kirsty Soames is alive and living abroad, having served a year in prison for domestic violence against Tyrone. Although she has not been involved in Ruby’s life since she was a baby she must be served with any application in respect of Ruby, and reasonable efforts would need to be made to locate her.

Avoiding Court Proceedings

Private law proceedings will be costly and the outcome will be uncertain. The process will be emotionally damaging to both parents and to Ruby and Hope. It really would be better for Fiz and Tyrone to try to sort things out amicably between themselves, perhaps with the help of mediation.

They all live close together which makes things easier. If the girls live separately they will still see each other every day at school and in the neighbourhood even without formal contact arrangements. There are plenty of family (Evelyn, Chesney) and friends on the street to help out with arrangements for contact if Fiz and Tyrone’s relationship deteriorates.

Reality And Soap Fiction

As always it will be interesting to see how accurately this is dealt with in soapland. I suspect there will be many references to a custody battle, which is a very outdated expression. I am sure Adam or Imran will be called upon for legal advice, even though they deal with every aspect of law, including criminal law. I am sure that it will all be resolved unrealistically quickly.

I’ll carry on watching though as I have for all my life….

Jo Taylor
8th June 2021