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Duration of child custody in Pakistan:

Advocate Nazia in Lahore is the best lawyer for child custody in Pakistan. The duration of custody granted to mother according to most jurists is that the male child is to remain in the custody of the mother till he becomes independent of the female, that is when he can eat and drink independently and can dress up independently. Some jurists say that he is to remain with the female till he can perform ablution (wudu) independently, that is, he can perform istinja' independently. According, to al-Khassaf, he is to stay with her till the age of seven, which is generally the age when the male child can perform the above tasks. In the case of the female child, the mother exercises custody until the child starts menstruating. When child custody in Pakistan is exercised by females other than the mother of one of the grandmothers, the rule for the female child is the same as that for the male child, and both are to be delivered to the father for custody when they reach the age of seven. The rule of analogy requires that the male child too should stay with the mother till the age of puberty, however, this analogy has been given up in favor of istihsan, which in turn is based upon the consensus of the Companions (God be pleased with them).

Duration of child custody in Pakistan (hidanah) granted to father

The child custody in Pakistan granted to father, and other males, in the absence of the father, begins with the age of seven for the male child and extends up to his puberty. In the case of the female child, when custody was being exercised by the mother or a grandmother, the custody of the father begins at the age of puberty (but the girl is a major at this age and acquires independence for many things). When custody was being exercised by a female other than the mother of one of the two grandmothers, the father acquires custody of the female child in the same manner as he acquires that of the male child, and in both these cases the custody extends up to the age of puberty. Although custody, technically, terminates at the age of puberty, it depends upon whether the child is trustworthy for being granted independence. This applies to the male child as well as the female child when they are sane. When the children are trustworthy, it is they who exercise the choice of where they will stay.

Location for exercising child custody in Pakistan:

As long as the parents of the child are married to each other, the place of child custody in Pakistan is where the parents reside. If the husband wishes to take the child with him to another town, he cannot do so as long as the child is of the age in which custody belongs to the mother. If the mother wishes to leave town, with or without the child, while the custody of the child is with her, the husband has the right to prevent her from doing so. Likewise, if the woman is undergoing her waiting period, she is not entitled to move out of the place of custody with or without the child, nor does the husband have the right to expel her from the house. When the waiting period is over and the woman wishes to move with the child to another town which was her original town, she may do so if that is the town in which her marriage took place and she wishes to return to it. In the case of any other town, she cannot do so unless the father of the child permits it. Nevertheless, the father cannot forcibly take away the child from the mother. A woman cannot move the child in her custody to the dar al-Harb even if she was married to the father of the child there, because doing so is considered harmful for the child. She may do so if both parents belong to the dar al-Harb.