Child arrangement solicitors

No, many parents are able to agree arrangements for their children without going to Court. The law encourages parents to resolve matters amicably wherever possible. Our solicitors can help you explore constructive solutions before court proceedings are considered, helping to reduce conflict and uncertainty for your children.

A Child Arrangements Order is a legally binding order issued by a Court that sets out who your children will live with and how much time they will spend with each parent.

A Child Arrangements Order puts your children’s best interests front and centre and lays the foundations for a co-parenting model for you and your ex-partner (or other extended family members) going forwards.

A Child Arrangement Order is usually needed when mediation or amicable negotiations between you and the other parent have broken down, or the other parent is preventing you from being part of their lives.

What’s important to remember is that a Child Arrangements Order is fundamentally put in place for your children’s benefit, not yours. The Court will look at what is best for them when they decide how much contact each parent (or grandparent) has with them.

The most important consideration for the Court will be the overall wellbeing of your children. However, there are many elements to that which will influence their ultimate decision, including:

• Your children’s emotional and physical needs, and how able each parent is to satisfy those needs
• Your children’s schooling
• Your children’s wishes, particularly if they’re older
• The impact of any significant changes on your children’s lives, such as a parent moving further away
• Any known risk of harm to your children

Child arrangements are intended to provide stability but are not fixed indefinitely. As children grow and circumstances change, arrangements may need to evolve. Our solicitors can advise you on putting sensible, flexible arrangements in place that can adapt over time.

Yes. Arrangements can be changed by agreement between parents, or by applying to the Court if agreement can’t be reached. Our solicitors can advise you on when a variation may be appropriate and guide you through the process.

If the agreed child arrangements are not being followed, early legal advice can help prevent issues from escalating. Our solicitors can explain the options available, including negotiation, mediation or applying to the Court to enforce or vary the existing arrangements.

Where a parent wishes to relocate or there are international implications to consider, arrangements can become more complex. The court will focus on what is in the child’s best interests. Our solicitors have experience advising on relocation and cross-border issues and can provide clear guidance on how these matters should be approached.

The Child Maintenance Service has a formula for child maintenance in the UK based on the paying parent’s income, but it can be difficult to navigate and we can advise you on the best option for your specific case.

The maximum income of the paying parent to be taken into account is capped at £156,000 per year before tax. It’s possible to apply to the Court for capital sums from a parent for your children’s benefit or extra maintenance if the paying parent’s income is higher than the £156,000 CMS cap.

If your children and paying parent do not live in the UK, the CMS can’t make a maintenance calculation, but the Court may make an order depending on where your children are located.