When separated parents are unable to agree arrangements for their children the court may make a child arrangements order. But how long does a child arrangement order last in the UK?
A child arrangements order is an order regulating arrangements relating to any of the following:
(a) with whom a child is to live, spend time or otherwise have contact, and
(b) when a child is to live, spend time or otherwise have contact with any person.
Essentially, there are two elements to child arrangements orders: the ‘live with’ element, stating with whom the child should live (which could be with more than one person, for example where the child is to share their time between the parents), and the ‘contact’ element, stating what contact the child should have with anyone else.
A typical child arrangements order might state residence with one parent and visitation with the other..
The difference between the elements answers the question: how long does a child arrangement order last in the UK?
A child arrangements order ends when the child turns eighteen, as they’re no longer considered a child.
However, the contact element of a child arrangements order will cease when the child reaches the age of sixteen, unless the court states that it should last longer, which it will only do if there are exceptional circumstances.
Thus, the law is essentially saying that when a child reaches the age of sixteen it will be up to them (save where there are exceptional circumstances) to decide what contact they should have with the parent with whom they don’t live.
Meanwhile, the ‘live with’ element of a child arrangements order will continue until the child reaches the age of eighteen. However, the court may not make even a ‘live with’ child arrangements order in relation to a child who has reached the age of sixteen unless it is satisfied that the circumstances of the case are exceptional, and would in any event be very reluctant to enforce a ‘live with’ order after the child has reached sixteen, save in exceptional circumstances.
A recent High Court case provides an insight into how all of this may work in practice.
The case concerned a father’s contact with his son, who was then aged fifteen.
The father had contact with the child, but was it in the child’s best interests for the contact to continue?
The mother argued that no order for contact should be made, based on the child’s wishes and feelings, whilst the father contended that it was in the child’s best interests that an order be made to last until he was aged eighteen.
For the contact order to extend beyond the child’s sixteenth birthday, exceptional circumstances needed to be demonstrated to the court.
The judge hearing the case referred to guidance which appeared to link the making of an order to run after the child’s sixteenth birthday to where the child has cognitive or learning difficulties, and stated that examples were to be found in previous cases where the child was particularly immature and needed that protection.
The father argued exceptional circumstances, alleging long-term manipulation by the mother, leading the child to refuse contact.
The judge acknowledged the mother’s manipulation but prioritized the child’s wishes, deeming it best for his well-being. She also could not envisage how an order could be made to work from the age of sixteen onwards, saying that it would be futile to force him to continue to see his father against his wishes.
Accordingly, she made an order that the contact should only continue until the boy’s sixteenth birthday.
Please contact us if you require any further information.
For more information about care proceedings and how we can help, see this page.
On the face of it, a child arrangements order is quite simple: it states with which parent(s) the child should live and, if with only one, what contact the child should have with the other parent.
But there can be much more to child arrangements orders.
Here we look a little more closely at what exactly a child arrangements order is, and what it can include, apart from simply setting out living and contact arrangements.
The starting point is the statutory definition in the Children Act 1989 for a child arrangements order.
The Act states:
“child arrangements order” means an order regulating arrangements relating to any of the following—
(b) when a child is to live, spend time or otherwise have contact with any person”
Note firstly that the definition is not limited to parents. A child arrangements order can also be made in relation to someone else, such as a grandparent.
Courts can order a child to live with multiple people, like splitting time between parents, without any restrictions.
Another point to note from the definition is the reference to spending time or otherwise having contact. What is the difference between the two?
‘Spend time’ means direct face-to-face contact between the child and the individual, including daytime or overnight visits.
‘Otherwise have contact’ refers to other types of indirect contact, such as video call, telephone, messaging, letters, email, and so on. It can also include such things as the sending of school reports and medical information by the parent with whom the child lives to the other parent.
Contact can also be supervised or unsupervised. Supervised contact will be ordered where the court is not sure that it would be safe for the child to spend time solely in the care of one person, so it orders that it should be supervised by a trustworthy person, such as a relative or the staff at a contact centre (see below).
A child arrangements order may also include directions and conditions.
These can include such things as where children should be ‘handed over’ at the start and end of direct contact; who may be present when the handover takes place; who should supervise the contact; and how the parties may communicate between themselves.
Conditions may include prohibiting alcohol or non-prescribed drugs for a set period before or during the child’s visitation.
The court may order contact at a child contact centre if it deems it beneficial for the child’s welfare.
In such cases the court order will state the name of the contact centre, who will provide the centre with a copy of the order, who will complete the contact centre referral form, and who will pay any costs charged by the centre. It will specify who brings the child to the centre and if they can be present during the contact session.
Centre staff may support or supervise the contact, aiding its smooth progress or observing and providing reports on the session.
Lastly, a child arrangements order may also contain ‘activity directions’ or ‘activity conditions’, requiring a person to take part in an activity that would, in the opinion of the court, “help to establish, maintain or improve the involvement in the life of the child concerned of that individual, or another individual who is a party to the proceedings.”
Activities may include such things as parenting classes, and programmes to address violent behaviour.
For more information about child arrangements, and the services we offer, see this page.
A child arrangements order is an order setting out with whom a child will live and what contact a person, usually a parent, will have with the child.
Child arrangements orders are usually made because the parents are not able to sort out arrangements for their children between themselves, and need to have the court sort them out for them.
But sadly parents don’t always adhere to the terms of child arrangements orders.
There are various ways in which an order may be breached.
The order may say the child lives with one parent but the visiting parent refuses to return them.
Or perhaps one parent denies contact with the child, defying the contact order.
Or the breach may relate to a detail in the order, for example a parent with contact not returning the child to the other parent at the set time.
So how do you report a breach of a child arrangement order?
Before doing anything else you should try to discuss the matter with the other parent. There could be a valid reason, and you might solve it through agreement.
It may also be possible to resolve the matter by coming to an agreement through solicitors.
But obviously it is not always possible to resolve the matter by agreement. You can report a breach of a child arrangement order to court by applying to enforce the child arrangements order in such a case.
In the application you will explain how the order has been broken, and ask the court to enforce the order.
You can request compensation for financial losses incurred due to non-compliance, like travel expenses for missed visits.
Before it takes any action, the court will want to know why the order was not complied with. Reasons may exist, or the court may adjust the order to resolve issues.
Without valid reasons, the court can take steps to enforce compliance with the order.
If it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a person has failed to comply with the order without reasonable excuse then the court may make an enforcement order, imposing on the person an unpaid work requirement, of between 40 and 200 hours.
The court may also order compensation to the applicant from the breaching party, as previously mentioned.
And in severe cases, the court can fine or imprison the individual breaching the order.
Another option where there have been persistent breaches of an order by the parent with whom the child lives, and where it is appropriate, is for the court to order that the child move to live with the other parent.
The above is only a very brief introduction to the subject of enforcing child arrangements orders.
If you believe that a child arrangements order has been breached then it is strongly recommended that you seek expert legal advice, at the earliest opportunity. We can provide you with that advice. For more information about child arrangements orders and how to get in touch with us, see this page.
When parents separate they will obviously need to sort out arrangements for where their children will live and what time the children will spend with each parent. Hopefully, they will be able to sort out these arrangements by agreement, but if that is not possible then they may need to ask the court to sort out the arrangements for them. This is done by applying to the court for a child arrangements order.
The power of the court to make child arrangements orders is set out in the Children Act 1989. The Act defines a child arrangements order as “an order regulating arrangements relating to any of the following—
(b) when a child is to live, spend time or otherwise have contact with any person”.
So the order will essentially set out what time the child will spend with each parent.
The order will generally last until the child reaches the age of sixteen.
Note that there is no particular distinction between ‘living’, ‘spending time’ or ‘having contact’ with a parent. Thus the order can be anything from the child spending equal time with each parent, to the child living with one parent and just having occasional contact with the other parent, or even having no contact at all.
And contact can be visiting or staying, direct and/or indirect, unsupervised or supervised.
‘Staying contact’ refers to contact whereby the child stays with that parent overnight, whereas ‘visiting contact’ refers to contact during the daytime, with the child returning to the other parent at night time.
‘Direct contact’ is where the child actually sees that parent, whereas ‘indirect contact’ refers to contact via indirect means, such as letter, telephone, email, text message, and so on. Note that contact can be both direct and indirect, with the child having indirect contact in between direct contact visits.
Lastly, supervised contact is where there are concerns over the parent having direct contact with the child, so the contact visits are supervised by someone trustworthy, for example a relative, or a supervisor at a child contact centre.
So now that we know what a child arrangements order is, the next question is: how does the court decide what order to make?
The overriding principle is that the child’s welfare is be the court’s ‘paramount consideration’. In other words, the court’s decision will be what it considers is best for the welfare of the child.
The court presumes it’s best for the child’s welfare that both parents are involved, unless proven otherwise.
To determine the child’s welfare, the court considers a ‘welfare checklist,’ prioritizing factors crucial for their best interests. These factors include:
1. The ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned, considered in the light of the child’s age and understanding. Thus, generally speaking, the older the child the greater weight the court will give to the child’s wishes. And there can come a point with an older child when their wishes will actually determine the outcome.
2. The child’s physical, emotional and educational needs. It may be that the child has some special needs, and that one of the parents is best suited to meet those needs.
3. The likely effect on the child of any change in their circumstances. Thus, for example, if the child is living with one parent and the court is considering making an order that they should move to live with the other parent then obviously that move court have a serious effect (good or bad) upon the child.
4. The child’s age, sex, background and any of their characteristics which the court considers relevant. These days the sex of the child is less likely to be relevant to the outcome of the case, but such things as their religious beliefs and particular interests could be.
5. Any harm which the child has suffered, or is at risk of suffering. Obviously, this would have a very significant bearing upon the outcome.
6. Lastly, how capable each of the parents is of meeting the child’s needs. This will cover not just parenting skills, but also practicalities such as work commitments, which obviously could have a bearing on the capability of the parent to meet the child’s needs.
For further information on how we can help, please see our Child Arrangements page.
Walker Family Law is an award-winning family law practice, recognised as one of the leading family law firms in the South West of England with services covering family law & mediation, divorce law, child-law and arbitration.
We know that Christmas is not a happy time that everyone. Indeed it can be very lonely and depressing. Some parents are for various reasons unable to spend time with their children on the main days of the Christmas holiday or even at all.
In the run-up to Christmas we deal with a surge in cases where separated parents are in dispute over the arrangements through which children will spend time with each parent over the Christmas holiday. Here are some hopefully helpful thoughts.
Children don’t want to see the adults around them arguing. Children want to enjoy everything that is going on. They will quite naturally want to see all of the important adults in their lives if possible. If they are taking part in a school play or similar performance children will normally want this to be watched by their important family members. Most importantly of all (again) children do not want to witness arguments; children wants to have fun and be happy.
If it has not been possible to agree arrangements for children to spend time with the adults who they do not live with during the year, then it is unlikely that there are going to be any significant changes agreed for the Christmas period. Equally, if the amount of time that the non-resident parent spends with their child is quite limited, then it is unlikely that it is going to be agreed that they can have loads ofadditional time over the Christmas holiday. Anyadditional time that can be agreed is likely to be along the lines of what is already taking place. Asking for more than is realistic will probably be counter-productive and will only lead to arguments.
If separated parents cannot get on with each other normally, then it is unrealistic to expect significant change over Christmas. Moving between one parent and another can be very stressful for children as well as for their parents. Sometimes the situation can be improved if a family member or friend can on a regular or even specific occasionassist with the move between one parent and the other.
The best time to discuss the arrangements for Christmas is in the spring of the year before. This allows ample time to undertake mediation. If agreements cannot be reached then an application would need to be made to the Court. Securing court time is not always easy and if there is a dispute over the Christmas arrangements, if an application is made to the court in the middle of December it is unlikely that the case will be able to get before a Judge in such a way that decisions can properly be made. The later a court application is left before Christmas, the less likely it is that a satisfactory outcome will be achieved
Courts make decisions based upon evidence. If an agreement has been reached between parents and it can be proven that an agreement existed then the starting point of the Court is likely to be based upon making the parents keep to their agreements (unless there is a good reason for change)rather than starting completely from scratch
Some parents sadly do not see their children or have their time with their children restricted because there are issues about safety. Examples of this can be where there has been domestic abuse or even abusive or unsafe behaviour involving the children. Sometimes the parent with whom the child lives places the question of safety to one side in order to try to be nice to the other for Christmas or because they want to give their children what they think their children want. Risks are unlikely to diminish simply because it is Christmas and if a parent places themselves or their children in an unsafe situation then they could be unfortunate consequences both with some problem arising and also with the possibility that social services could become involved with the family because of concerns over a parents failure to protect.
The best arrangements for children are ones where their parents are able to communicate well with each other and where both parents have confidence that the other will deliver their side of the agreement. The best arrangements are where parents are able to trust each other. Unless there is a significant safety issue the best way to achieve the best arrangements is through the parents talking to each other and finding a way to put past difficulties behind them. Mediation can be an excellent forum for achieving this. The starting point to a successful mediation is both parents accepting that there is a problem that needs to be resolved and both wishing to do something to resolve the problem.
Where advice is required it is always a good idea to do this as soon as it becomes clear that the problem will not easily be solved. In our experience problems do not easily go away if nothing is done to try and solve them. Reasonable arrangements for children over the Christmas period often include Christmas Day being shared or children spending Christmas with one family one year and with another the next. However, all situations are different. Getting specific legal advice is usually a good idea.
We are a Firm of Solicitors specialising in family law and a mediation service that is based in Honiton in East Devon. We also have branch offices in Taunton. Our mediation service is contracted with the legal aid agency to offer legally aided mediation in Honiton Exeter and Taunton. If you qualify for legal aid for mediation then the mediation will be free of charge.We are members of the family solicitors organisation Resolution. Ian Walker is currently the elected chair of the Devon region Of Resolution
