Family Solicitors

When families split up, in over 90 percent of cases there is a mutually satisfactory agreement between the separated parents concerning their children’s living arrangements. Of the rest, the parties tend to end up in court, where decisions are taken regarding levels of access and other matters. Court orders will be made which, though the parents may not be happy with, at least they have to abide by and an understanding is reached on that basis. There unfortunately remains a tiny minority of cases in which the parties concerned prove intractable and refuse to abide with instructions, concerning contact, that have been issued by the court.

The Children and Adoption Act 2006 was put in place to assist in such rare, but serious circumstances, providing courts with the power to enforce the contact orders it issues and to ensure that all parties concerned maintain the decreed level of contact.

The court can, for example, should it so decide, issue Contact Activity Directions. These are designed to force the party concerned become involved in a certain level of activity, which will help maintain and promote contact, such as joining a class for parental counselling.

Since 2009, the court has to attach a ‘warning notice’ to all Court Orders, which lays out the potential penalties and measures for enforcement that are available to it should the Contact Order be broken in some way.

For a Contact Order to be enforced, the applicant will have to be able to show the court a number of situations relating to how the other party is behaving. They must be able to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the order was broken, to begin with. There should also have been no good excuse as to why the order was broken, such as the child having been ill. If it turns out that the order was unquestionably broken and that there was no reasonable excuse for this to have happened, the court has a number of options available to it to enforce the Contact Order.

It can order some level of financial compensation from the party that is in breach of the order in cases where the applicant is able to demonstrate a degree of financial loss as a result of the breach. Such situations may include, for example, a missed contact centre session, travelling costs or a holiday that had to be cancelled. The party in breach may be ordered to perform community service work and a CAFCASS officer could be assigned to ensure that the required contact does take place. The court can also order attendance at mediation, by both parties, to resolve their differences or instruct one or both of them to attend anger management or counselling therapy of some description.

It should also be pointed out, in this connection, that if the original Contact Order proves subsequently not to be in the best interests of the child the court has the power to change it. The court can also, in exceptional circumstances, commit a party to a prison for breach of an order or reverse residence in the non-resident’s favour.

Contact Duncan Lewis or other specialist family and child care solicitors for more information.