Once you have got a child arrangement order it stays in place until your child is 16. Children and their needs change over time or your circumstances may do so. That is why you or your ex-partner may want to apply back to the family court to vary a child arrangement order.
Family law solicitor, Angelique Holm, is an expert in children law. In this blog, she looks at when and how you can apply to court to vary a child arrangement order.
For children and family law advice call Angelique Holm on 0203 488 8620 or email
info@hopeholm.co.uk or visit our website Hopeholm Family Law.
Why you may need to apply to vary a child arrangement order
If you have a child arrangement order and you do not think the order is in the best interests of your child you may need to apply back to the court to vary the order. The application could be made with the agreement of your ex-partner if they agree to the proposed change or you could ask the judge to decide if changing the child arrangement order is in your child’s best interests.
If a child arrangement order is not working for you then you should not unilaterally do what you think is best for your child unless the situation is urgent and there is a safeguarding issue.
For example, if your ex-partner has a child arrangement order allowing them contact at specified times but they have turned up drunk wanting to take your child in their car with them. You would be right to say no to contact but you would then need to apply back to court to vary the child arrangement order unless you accepted the incident was a one-off and not a pattern of behaviour.
If you do not apply to change a child arrangement order then you could find that your ex-partner applies to court to enforce the existing child arrangement order. That places you on the back foot as you then need to apply to the court to vary the order and the court may think that your application is motivated by the enforcement proceedings rather than because you genuinely do not think the order is working for your child.
Thinking about varying a child arrangement order
If you are thinking about asking the court to vary a child arrangement order then you need to:
- Take urgent family law advice on the need to apply to vary the child arrangement order
- Explain to your former partner why you have acted. The explanation could be in a solicitor’s letter or email or by you texting your ex-partner. However you communicate with your former partner you should remember that the message is likely to be referred to in the court proceedings. Therefore, it should be neutrally worded and the wording used should not inflame an already difficult situation
- Consider your options and how your child and ex-partner may react to you wanting to vary the child arrangement order. For example, if your former partner turned up drunk for contact you may want to suggest contact takes place at a grandparent’s house and on condition that the ex-partner gets professional help and does not drink before the contact visit. Your suggested changes will all depend on whether your ex-partner has a history of alcohol abuse, the age of your child and a host of other factors. That is why it is best to speak to an experienced family law solicitor before you make any decisions on changing the child arrangement order or applying to court to vary the existing children law order
Triggers to apply to court to vary a child arrangement order
There are many reasons why you may want to apply to vary a child arrangement order, such as:
- You are moving with your job so the current child arrangement order and shared residence arrangement will not work if you live further away from your ex-partner
- You want to move overseas with your child and the current child arrangement order only allows you to take your child on holiday abroad for a maximum of 4 weeks. You will need a relocation order and to vary the contact arrangements your former partner has under the existing child arrangement order
- An older child is adamant that they don’t want contact every week or a mid-week overnight visit
- You have safeguarding concerns, ranging from bruising to your child to your child reporting that they are left on their own during contact visits
- An older child says they want to come to live with you
- The contact arrangements are not working and you want to change the details. For example, collecting the child from school and returning them to school or to a neutral venue to avoid altercations with your ex-partner
One thing that you cannot do is apply to vary a child arrangement order if you are simply unhappy with the original order. If that is the case you need to consider appealing against the order. You can do that if the judge either got the facts wrong or misapplied the law to your family situation. It is best to speak to a family law solicitor quickly if you are considering an appeal as there are time limits to appeal against the terms of a child arrangement order.
How do you apply to vary a child arrangement order?
A child arrangement order can be varied by making an application to the court that made the original order. The process is very similar to the original application for the child arrangement order.
In most cases, you will be expected to attend family mediation before you apply to vary the order. That is to see if you can reach an agreement with your ex-partner to avoid the need for court proceedings or so you can submit an agreed application to change the terms of the child arrangement order.
The length and complexity of your application to vary the child arrangement order will depend on the reasons behind your application. For example, if you want to stop contact because your former partner has assaulted you or your child then there may need to be a separate hearing (called a fact-finding hearing) for the court to determine if it can find that the assault occurred. That may not be necessary if your ex-partner accepts they assaulted you or they were convicted of assault.
The court may decide to order a report from CAFCAS (a section 7 report) or an expert (such as a child psychologist) before listing the application to vary the child arrangement order for a final hearing. The court may also want to make a referral to social services for them to investigate and report if there are safeguarding issues.
In addition to the court ordering reports, the court may also hold an interim hearing to decide if the child arrangement order should be temporarily changed pending the final hearing of your variation application. For example, the court might order that contact should be supervised until the final hearing.
It is difficult to say the precise route a child arrangement order variation application may take as so much depends on the circumstances and reasons for the application. Angelique Holm can help explore with you whether a child arrangement order variation application is in your child’s best interests and support and guide you through the application process.
For advice on child arrangement orders and resolving family law disputes advice call Angelique Holm on 0203 488 8620 or email info@hopeholm.co.uk or visit our website Hopeholm Family Law.
A client’s thoughts on Angelique Holm’s representation in his child arrangement order variation case:
‘’This is the 2nd matter I have instructed HopeHolm on and Angelique has not let me down. Again, a seamless successful application was approved by the court 🙂
‘’Angelique dealt with the solicitors on the other side very professionally. They were very difficult and extremely arrogant with proceedings but Angelique didn’t let that worry her one bit.
‘’A small firm like HopeHolm will always look after their clients more than the big firms. Angelique took on my case personally as if it was happening to her so she did everything possible to ensure it was a success. She also provides tremendous emotional support and explains all the legal jargon in a very easy to understand way! I have already recommended the firm to other people needing help and will always come back to Angelique if I ever need her again’’.
For advice on child arrangement orders and resolving family law disputes advice call Angelique Holm on 0203 488 8620 or email info@hopeholm.co.uk or visit our website Hopeholm Family Law.