Child Arrangements Orders: What Happens If One Parent Breaches the Order?

What counts as a breach?

A child arrangements order is a court order setting out arrangements for where a child lives and/or when they spend time with another person.A breach can occur where a person deliberately fails to follow the terms of the order without a reasonable excuse.

Examples may include:-

• repeatedly refusing to make a child available for contact;
• failing to return a child at the time specified, or
• preventing contact from taking place in accordance with the order.

The precise wording of the order is important when deciding whether a breach has occurred. The court has a wide range of powers in the event of a breach of a child arrangements order without reasonable excuse.

What can you do about it?

• Where attempts to resolve the issue directly or through mediation have failed, an application can be made to the Family Court to enforce the child arrangements order.
• The application is generally made using Form C79. The court will consider what happened, whether the order was breached and whether the person had a reasonable excuse.

What action can the court take?

The court has a range of options where it finds a breach without reasonable excuse.  Depending on the circumstances, these can include:-

• changing or clarifying the existing arrangements;
• requiring the parties to undertake relevant programmes;
• dispute resolution, and
• other enforcement measures.
• In appropriate cases, a breach may also give rise to contempt of court proceedings.   

Keep a record

Anyone seeking enforcement should keep clear records of alleged breaches, including:-

• dates;
• times;
• messages; and
• any reasons given for the failure to comply.

The court will want evidence explaining why the applicant says the order has been broken. If your attempts at mediation and resolving the matter amicably are not successful, then you can apply to court for the order to be enforced.

Important: A breach does not automatically mean that the other party will be punished. The court will consider the circumstances, including whether there was a reasonable excuse and what outcome is in the child’s interests.

Please contact our family law team on 01926 422 101 or leamspa@fieldoverell.com if you need assistance to deal with the breach of a child arrangements order and resolve matters.