Child Arrangement Terms &
Court Orders Explained
Live With Order, Contact Order, Specific Issue Order, Prohibited Steps Order, Family Assistance Order, Consent Order, Enforcement Order, Occupation Order, Non-Molestation Order, With Notice & Without Notice (Ex Parte) Application.
Plus
Wasted Costs Order, The Slip Rule & Trapped Capital In Terms Of Legal Aid
Child arrangement orders are court orders that detail arrangements that have been made with regards to where a child shall live, with whom and how they will be brought up.
Please find below the most common types of child arrangement orders and terms used today in the family courts.
WHAT IS A ‘LIVE WITH’ ORDER IN CHILD ARRANGEMENT PROCEEDINGS (also referred to as a residence order and shared care order) ?
A live with order is a court order that states with whom a child shall primarily reside with.
In most cases a ‘live with’ order will also state details about the child’s contact with the secondary/non resident parent and relatives. Here we are going to write about it separately.
A live with order is a section 8 order.
WHAT IS A CONTACT ORDER IN CHILD ARRANGEMENT PROCEEDINGS?
A contact order is an order which states how much contact a child can have with the secondary/non resident parent. This order will detail –
- How frequent the contact is.
- Where they take place.
- What kind of contact it will be – phone, letter, email, text, social media or in person.
Please note the term direct contact means face to face contact (visits and over night stay). Indirect contact refers to email, phone . text or social media contact.
A contact order is a section 8 order.
WHAT IS A SPECIFIC ISSUE ORDER?
A specific issue order is a section 8 order made by a court where an agreement is not being reached between you and your ex-partner regarding a particular issue, such as, schooling, surname, medical treatment, going abroad, or stopping contact. Anyone with parental responsibility can apply for a specific issue order. Extended family can apply, but they need permission from the court first. They will ask for permission on form C100 (section 5 page 12). In some instances, a specific issue order can last until the child is 16 years or 18 years.
The form used to apply for a specific issue order is form C100.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C100
The court hearing will be listed about 5-6 weeks after the initial C100 application. You can also use form C100 to apply to vary or discharge an existing specific issue order.
You can read the government guide CB1 for more information.
WHAT IS A PROHIBITED STEPS ORDER?
A prohibited steps order is a section 8 order made by the court where the order stops you or your ex-partner from doing a particular act, such as, taking the child abroad if that is not in the best interest of the child.
The form used to apply for a prohibited steps order is form C100
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C100.
The court hearing will be listed about 5-6 weeks after the initial C100 application. You can also use form C100 to apply to vary or discharge an existing prohibited steps order.
You can read the government guide CB1 for more information.
WHAT IS A FAMILY ASSISTANCE ORDER?
A family assistance order is also a section 8 order made by the court where they will direct Cafcass or a social worker to assist and help a family where a child arrangement order has been made. The Cafcass officer or social worker will help the family/parent(s) set goals, understand and make progress with the child arrangements order. A family assistance order is usually in place for 12 months. The Cafcass officer or a social worker can refer the case back to the court if they think the child arrangements order is not being adhered to, ask for an extension and vary or discharge the family assistance order. They will also write reports for the court about progress or lack of progress.
A family assistance order can be suggested by a Cafcass officer, social worker or a judge/magistrate. If you want to apply for a family assistance order yourself the form you will need is form C100
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C100.
The court hearing will be listed about 5-6 weeks after the initial C100 application. You can also use form C100 to apply to vary or discharge an existing family assistance order.
You can read the government guide CB1 for more information.
WHAT IS A CONSENT ORDER?
When you and your ex-partner reach an agreement concerning child arrangements and/or how your marital assets, finances, and pensions are going to be divided, this agreement will have to be written up on a piece of paper called a draft consent agreement (also called a draft consent order and an informal agreement). This draft consent agreement is then sent to the relevant court to be formalised/approved and converted into a legal final order, called a consent order, which will contain the court stamp, the mandatory court warnings, and penal notices.
A draft consent agreement is like a guide that will assist court staff to write the legally binding consent order.
In child arrangements, a consent order is called a child arrangements order that has been reached by consent. In financial arrangements, a consent order is called a financial order reached by consent.
For child arrangements, you will need to attach your draft consent agreement to form C100 which is the application form used to start court proceedings for child arrangements. Please tick the box on page 1 on form C100 if are you applying for an order to formalise/approve an agreement.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C100
ENFORCEMENT OF A CHILD ARRANGEMENTS ORDER
An enforcement order is made by a court when a parent has breached a child arrangements order or when there is a complete breakdown of the child arrangements order. The court has to be completely satisfied that the parent in question has breached the child arrangements order and that their reasons have no grounds.
The form used to apply for an enforcement order is form C79. You can also use form C79 to apply to extend, amend, or discharge an enforcement order.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C79.
You can read the government guide CB5 for more information.
WHAT IS AN OCCUPATION ORDER?
An occupation order is an injunction to be excluded from the property in which you both live. The court will decide who will be allowed to stay in the home or any part of the home. The form used to apply for an occupation order is form FL401. Please click the link below.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM FL401
WHAT IS A NON-MOLESTATION ORDER?
A non-molestation order is an injunction against a named person to stop them threatening violence against you and your children and to prevent them from coming to and near your home. The form used to apply for a non-molestation order is form FL401. Please click on the link above.
WHAT DOES A ‘WITH NOTICE’ AND ‘WITHOUT NOTICE (EX-PARTE)’ COURT APPLICATION IN THE FAMILY COURT MEAN?
What is a ‘with notice’ court application?
There are many court forms you can complete and submit asking the family court to do this and to do that.
The vast majority of these applications require you to send multiple copies of your completed form and all the attachments that go with it to the court so they can send a copy to anyone else that is involved or connected to your application.
In court language this is referred to as ‘to serve‘ and it essentially means all other individuals involved or connected to your application must receive the relevant paperwork that require them to be informed, respond, comply with directions or attend court.
This is called a ‘with notice’ application.
If the court requires you to serve another person a copy of your application form yourself then you are required to notify the family court that you have done this by sending them a completed statement of service form.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM FL415
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM FP6
What is a ‘without notice (ex parte)’ application?
Occasionally you may need to submit an application form for a court order in an emergency and you may NOT want to inform the other individuals involved or connected with your application that you are doing this in case they try to stop you or harm you and/or your children. This is called a ‘without notice’ application where other individuals are not informed about your application.
A ‘without notice’ application can also be referred to an ex parte application.
A court will take a ‘without notice’ application seriously and where appropriate they will temporarily make the requested relevant order to protect or provide relief for the applicant (you – the person who made the application). This will be made at a court hearing that only you (and your solicitor or social worker) will attend. As soon as possible another hearing will take place where all other individuals involved or connected to your application will be invited to attend and put their case forward. At this stage the temporary court order can be made into a proper court order, it can be amended, or revoked.
Some application forms will ask whether the application is a ‘with notice’ or ‘without notice’ application, others will not. Whether the form asks you or not, in both cases you will need to explain in detail why you have made a ‘without notice’ application.
WHAT IS A WASTED COSTS ORDER?
This is an court order where an individuals legal costs are paid by their legal representative (solicitor. law firm or barrister) because the legal representative conducted the case in an improper, negligent, unreasonable and illegal manner. This is allowed under the Section 19A of the 1985 Act.
You can ask the judge about this at a hearing or you can make an application to the court. The form you will need is form C2
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C2
A wasted costs order can only be made against a legal representative.
WHAT IS THE SLIP RULE?
This is the rule that is used where a judge can correct a court order or judgement because a mistake, omission, typing error or accidental slip has occurred. If one party to the proceedings has noticed a mistake in a court order they can make an application for correction without notice. Under this rule notice does not need to be given to the other side nor is there a requirement for a hearing so the correction can be made. The form used during child proceedings is form C2.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C2
TRAPPED CAPITAL IN TERMS OF LEGAL AID
Trapped capital is inaccessible capital (usually in a home/property) that exists on paper but is not is not available to an individual so they can secure a loan against it for legal fees or for legitimate reasons they cannot or are not in a position to sell it. However, this trapped capital will result in them not being eligible for legal aid as it takes them above the threshold to obtain legal aid. Due to this the individual is disadvantaged by not obtaining legal representation and access to justice.
LINK TO GOVERNMENT WEBSITE FOR TRAPPED CAPITAL PRACTICALITIES AND CASE LAW