Services

Child Arrangement Order

If you cannot come to an agreement with the other parent about when, how and how often you can have contact with your children or with whom they should live, you can make an application to the family court for an order specifying these things, which is legally binding.

Prior to making an application to the court, you have to attend a meeting with the other parent and a mediator to try to come to an agreement. This is essential, unless there is a reason why attending a mediation meeting is unsuitable, such as domestic violence or concerns regarding the safety of the children.

The Court can make an order regarding who the children should live with and have contact with, why kind of contact they should have, if they can have overnight stays with the other parent, if the contact should be supervised or unsupervised and if there should be direct or indirect contact, such as letters, emails or cards.

Who can apply for a child arrangement order?

• Parent, guardian or special guardian of the child
• Step parent who has parental responsibility
• Any person in who’s favour a residence order is in force in respect of a child
• Any party to a marriage or civil partnership in relation to whom the child is a child of the family
• Any person with whom the child has lived for a period of at least 3 years.

The process of applying for a child arrangement order

Once an application is made to the Court, a copy will be sent to the other parent or any other relevant parties, and a firt hearing will be listed. The first hearing will be used to determine what the issues are and if the parties are unable to come to an agreement at this hearing, the court will make directions regarding what is required in order for an agreement to be reached as well as making directions for future hearings.

There is no specific number of hearings that may take place so that a final order can be made by the Court. A number of pieces of evidence may be required in order for the court to make a decision, such as a list of allegations to be made by the parties that require investigation, witness statements, expert reports such as psychological reports, police evidence, a CAFCASS report and other key pieces of evidence.

Interim Contact

You will be permitted to ask the Court at the first hearing to decide if you are allowed to have contact with the children whilst the court proceedings are underway. This contact could be supervised, at a contact centre or with another responsible party, or unsupervised. It could also take place in the form of telephone or video calls or through the receipt of gifts and letters. This may not be granted as the Court must determine what is in the best interests if the child before granting such contact, but we will always make this request if you instruct us to do so and in a number of cases, the Court will grant contact while hearings continue and until a final order is made.

Consent Order

In some cases, mediation may have been unsuitable or unsuccessful but both parties still come to an agreement either prior to the first hearing or thereafter. If this is the case, we can ask the Court to draft this agreement as a final order so that it is legal binding and protects the interests of all of the parties involved, including the children.

Who are CAFCASS and what do they do?

CAFCASS are the children and family court advisory support services. They work together with the parties to decide what is in the best interests of the children. When their parents can not agree about what the child arrangements should be.

The way that CAFCASS will do this is by interviewing and maybe visiting the parents and other relevant parties in the case (including the children if they are of a certain age and capacity) and preparing an initial safe guarding letter and potentially a detailed report later on in the proceedings. They will then make a recommendation regarding what they believe is best for the children, which will be considered by the Court in the course of making a final order.

The final order and how it is made

The Court will consider a number of factors in making a final order. These include but are not limited to the following:

• The childs age, sex and background
• What the childs needs are, physically, emotionally and in terms of their educational needs
• Any harm the child may have experienced or witnessed previously, as well as the risk of any harm that may take place in the future
• The feelings and wishes of the child
• The capacity and capability of the childs parents in relation to raising the child or having contact with them and meeting their needs
• What impact a final order would make on a child if it involves any changes to their present situation
• The conduct of the parents, in general, towards each other and towards the child previously or during any interim contact that may be taking place.

If you require further advice, information or assistance regarding the service outlined above, please get in touch below: