Children Matters

During a separation, there can be various points of disputes regarding children. These usually involve where they will live, their names, schooling, religion or holiday issues. A Child Arrangements Order can be used to resolve many of the main issues.

Unless exceptional circumstances exist, it is important for children to spend quality time with both parents and retain links to their extended members of their family. Either through negotiation, mediation or court proceedings, our team can help you resolve disputes and agree arrangements in relation to your children. This can help so that they grow up without being affected by the difficulties of parent separation as much as possible.

If there is a risk of one parent moving away with the children – particularly where that move involves moving abroad and leaving England and Wales – our team can offer clear, expert help and advice.

It is very important for children to maintain their relationships with both parents following a separation. It is usually regrettable if the breakdown of a relationship affects a child’s relationship with one of their parents.

Where possible, it is always best for the children, if arrangements can be agreed between you and the other parent. Mediation is often a helpful way of agreeing the arrangements for where children live or spend time. If you cannot agree, then it may be necessary to apply to court for a Child Arrangements Order (formerly called a Residence or Contact Order). Contact us to speak to one of our lawyers to discuss how we can help. 

Before you can make any application to the court regarding children matters it is now compulsory to attend a Mediation Information Assessment Meeting (MIAM). You may meet certain criteria that means you are exempt from the mediation process, but in some circumstances you may still be required to attend the MIAM.

Legal Aid is still available, but only in certain circumstances and is far more restricted than it once was. 

We can carry out an initial eligibility assessment to see if you can access legal aid.  If you are not eligible, we can offer fixed fee appointments and we will also advise on the next steps with cost estimates if you should choose to instruct us.

The court can make Prohibited Steps and Specific Issues orders. A Prohibited Steps Order prevents a person from taking a certain action in relation to a child or children without the agreement of the other party or the authority of the Court, for example that a child/children  are not relocated to another area. With a Specific Issue Order the court will be asked to decide about a specific thing which cannot be agreed such as a child’s name or what school they should attend.

We can advise you what action is right for you and your children depending on the specific circumstances of your case.

The children’s welfare is the paramount concern of the court, and they must consider whether any delay is likely to prejudice the welfare of the children concerned. The court shall not make an order unless it considers that doing so would be better for the child(ren) than making no order at all. Therefore the court will only make a formal order if there is a dispute, otherwise no order will be made.

In deciding whether an order should be made, the court will have regard to the seven criteria set out in the welfare checklist under s1(3) Children Act 1989:

a) The ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned.
b) The child’s physical, emotional and educational needs.
c) The likely effect on the child if circumstances changed as a result of the court’s decision.
d) The child’s age, sex, backgrounds and any other characteristics which will be relevant to the court’s decision.
e) Any harm the child has suffered or maybe at risk of suffering.
f) Capability of the child’s parents (or any other person the courts find relevant) at meeting the child’s needs.
g) The powers available to the court in the given proceedings.

Cafcass stands for Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. Their website can be found at www.cafcass.gov.uk.

Once an application in Children matters is made to the court a Judge appoints Cafcass to your case. Cafcass are qualified social workers who work as Family Court Advisors.

Their duty is to safeguard and promote the welfare of children going through the family justice system.

Their experienced Family Court Advisers may be asked by the court to work with families and then advise the court on what they consider to be the best interests of the children involved.

To do this, if appropriate, they may speak with the children directly, their schools, health visitors or anyone else they consider may have important information to assist their enquiries.