LEGAL ADVICE & COURT
One of the court orders you will be seeking is called a Child arrangement order. This has replaced what were previously known as “contact orders” and “residence orders”. “Custody” and “access” are also very old terms which are no longer used by the Family Court.
A Child arrangements order is an order setting out:
- Who the child will live with, and when
- Who the child will spend time, or otherwise have contact with, and when.
"When making any decision about a child the court’s primary consideration is the welfare of that child. The court will only make an order if they believe that it is better for the child."
This includes:
- Your child’s wishes and feelings
- Your child’s physical, emotional and educational
- Any characteristics the court thinks relevant e.g. special needs or disability as changes can be disruptive to a child.
- Any harm your child has suffered or is at risk of suffering
how capable both parents are of meeting your child’s needs
What a court order can do:
- The court can order that the child lives with one parent or both parents, and specify when the child lives with each parent.
- If the child lives with one parent, the court can order when the child is to spend time with the other parent. This could be face-to-face (direct contact), supervised (either by a suitable person or at a contact centre). The contact may be indirect (such as through letters and cards).
- The court can also order for the child to see the other parent for a specified number of hours or make an order for the child to stay with a parent overnight or more than one night also known as staying contact.
"If in family court you are named as the person with whom a child is to live, then you will automatically acquire parental responsibility for the child if you did not already have parental responsibility"
The court can also add conditions to a child arrangements order (for example, a condition that the father is not to consume alcohol during his time with the child). The court can also add activity directions to a child arrangements order (for example, asking the parents to attend a course which provides information on how to deal with challenges faced by separated parents).
Other orders to be aware of include:
- Specific issue orders - A specific issue order (SIO) is an order the court can make when two people who have parental responsibility (PR) for a child cannot agree about an important decision in a child’s upbringing.
- Prohibited steps orders - A prohibited steps order (PSO) is an order the court can make to forbid a person who has PR for a child from taking certain action in relation to that child.
- Enforcement order - An order made by the court to ensure the parent in breach of the court order complies with an order.