Children

Child Care Proceedings

We can advise on ensuring that you understand the options available to you should contact issues arise. A party who holds parental responsibility for a child under the age of 16 can apply to the Court to consider a variety of matters, which could include:

A Child Arrangement Order seeking for the Court to determine who the child “lives with” and “spends time with”. These types of Orders would usually cover a variety of issues, including but not limited to, term time and holiday arrangements, children’s birthdays, Christmas etc.

Sometimes parties do not agree on matters that are considered a parental responsibility issue, for example, to change a child’s school. In those circumstances, a parent can apply to the Court to seek permission to change this if agreement cannot be reached. This is called a Specific Issue Order.

Similarly, if one party attempts to remove a child from a school without consent of all parties who hold parental responsibility, they may invite the Court to prevent the change of the child’s school, which would enable the Court to have the opportunity to consider what is in the child’s best interests moving forward. This is called a Prohibited Steps Order.