Introduction
If someone has failed to keep to a child arrangements order you may want to ask the
family court to enforce the order. If a child arrangements order has been broken without a
reasonable excuse, you may apply to the family court:
- for a community-based order requiring a person to carry out unpaid work (this is
known as an ‘enforcement order’); or - to award financial compensation from one person to another. For example, if the
cost of a holiday has been lost as a result of a contact order being broken, the
person who has lost the money can apply to the court for a financial compensation
order.
To apply for an enforcement order or for financial compensation there must first be:
- a child arrangements order containing a warning notice (generally included in orders issued after December 2008); and
- a failure to keep to the child arrangements order.
The court can only make an enforcement order if it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that
a person has failed to keep to the child arrangements order. The court cannot make an
enforcement order if it is satisfied that the person had a reasonable excuse for failing to keep
to the child arrangements order.
An enforcement order (unpaid work)
If a person has failed to keep to a child arrangements order, the court can consider whether
to make an enforcement order. The enforcement order will mean the person has to do
between 40 and 200 hours of unpaid work. This will be monitored by the probation
service.
You can apply for an enforcement order if you are:
- the person who the child named in the child arrangements order lives with or is
going to live with; - the person whose contact with the child is provided for in the child arrangements
order; - any person a condition in the child arrangements order applies to; or
- the child concerned. If you are the child concerned you must get the court’s
permission before making an application. You should use form C2 to ask the court
for permission. This form is available from any family court office, or from our
website at hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk
An order for compensation for financial loss
If a person has failed, without a reasonable excuse, to keep to a child arrangements order
and you have lost money as a result, the court may make an order for that person to pay
you compensation for the money you lost.
An order for compensation for financial loss will only be made for actual financial loss. You
cannot claim compensation for hurt feelings or inconvenience caused.
Court Forms
The list below shows reasons for an application for an order relating to enforcing a child arrangements order. You can use form C78 for
- Application for attachment of a warning notice to a child arrangement order
(if the child arrangement order was made before 8 December 2008) C78 - Application for an enforcement order
- Application for the court to take action following the breaking of an
enforcement order - Application for an order for compensation for financial loss
- Application to revoke (bring to an end) an existing enforcement order
- Application to amend an existing enforcement order because of a
change of address - Application for amending the hours of unpaid work in an existing
enforcement order
or form C79 for an application to extend the period of 12 months for completing the unpaid
work
Legal Aid
Legal aid is no longer available to pay for legal advice from a solicitor to help you apply for a child arrangements order unless you can prove you have suffered domestic abuse or that your child is at risk of abuse from your ex.
Legal aid is still available to pay for family mediation, without the need to provide evidence of domestic abuse. Eligibility for legal aid depends on your financial circumstances. You can check if you are financially eligible for legal aid.
Which Court deals with the application
You may want to make your application to the court where the child arrangements order
was made, or you can apply to any family court. You can find a full list of courts, and
information about what type of work that they do, online at hmctscourtfinder.justice.gov.uk
Fees and costs
You may have to pay a court fee. For more information on court fees, please refer to booklet
EX50 – Civil and Family Court fees.
If you cannot afford to pay a court fee, you may be eligible for a fee remission in full or
part. The booklet EX160A – Court and Tribunal fees – Do I have to pay them? gives all the
information you need.