Child Arrangement Orders Explained: A Brief Guide

If you have recently gone through a divorce or separation of some kind, and you have children involved, then you will need to work to find a clear path for their future. This refers to finding where they will live going forward, and where they will school. Read this guide to learn the basics of a child arrangement order. 

Defining The Order 

If you weren’t aware, a child arrangement order is an order that is issues in court to help decide where a child will be living. There will be steps you need to follow when you divorce, with this order being taken to make it clear what happens with any children you have. In the UK, it will be important to know that in most cases, it will be decided out of court where children live, with a split across the week for custody.  

When you cannot agree for whatever reason, a solicitor or court will be needed to find a path forward. This used to be known as a Residence & Contact order, with a family court being the primary court you’d deal with. There will be certain people aside from the parents who can apply, mainly those who live with the child such as a guardian or non-biological parent, which will be explained in the next section. 

Eligibility  

It’s important to know that almost anyone will be able to apply for a child arrangement order through a court. The first step will be approaching the court, likely with an expert solicitor, to seek permission for a child arrangement order. Whilst almost anyone can apply for this order, they will have to fall into a specific applicable group. 

They include parents or guardians, who will be the most likely group that would look into seeking this order. An adult who has a residence order with the child, meaning they live together, will also be able to apply. All in all, a responsible adult who holds parental responsibility will be able to seek the order. 

As mentioned above, you will need to work with an expert solicitor to help you navigate the courts and file the right paperwork. The National Legal Service can assist you in getting your case put across, and explain the process of child arrangement orders in general. This can also help to relieve the stress in your life, and reduce anxiety with going through the legal process. Work with a solicitor from the start of the process to give yourself the best chance of a positive outcome. 

Protecting Children 

Of course, the main purpose of issuing these orders is to help decide who a child should live with, and one of the factors that could contribute to this is deciding where is safe. The best solution to resolve a case like this is to resolve it and agree before the courts get involved. 

This becomes much more difficult to achieve in certain welfare cases. It is what leads to care proceedings being initiated by social services, who may take control of the case. The end goal for arranging where a child will live should be in their best interest. This will be regarding their health and safety, which will be the number one priority, and the property itself and additional circumstances.