My Ex Has Breached our Child Arrangements Order. What can I do?

Child Arrangement Orders (CAO) set out with whom a child is to live or spend time with, including when and how. A CAO can be essential for many parents who have otherwise been unable to agree arrangements for their children. But what happens when one parent does not follow the order?  

If this were to happen, the other parent has the option to make an application to the Court to enforce the CAO against the breaching party. The Court will only do this if certain thresholds have been met. These are set out in s11(j) of the Children Act 1989; 

1. The Court must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a person has failed to comply with a provision of the CAO.

            And if a breach is found,

2. Did the person in breach of the order have a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with the provision?

For the Court to intervene, certain elements need to first be established. These include: 

• A CAO must have been made. This order must contain a warning notice. If no warning notice is in the order, this can be applied for.  

• The order must have been served on all who are party to the order. If it has not been served, then no enforcement can take place. 

Before making an application for enforcement, you may want to try:- 

• Communicating with the person who you believe to be in breach. Do they have a reason for the breach? 

• If the CAO isn’t working, perhaps consider mediation to see if issues can be 

  resolved outside of court. 

It is important to get legal advice as enforcement is not as straight forward as it may seem. 

If you have any questions about enforcement of a Child Arrangements Order, please get in touch with our Family Department who will be able to assist.