Family Lawyer’s Guidance on Telling Your Story and Transparency in Children Law Applications
You have come out of a court hearing and been vindicated. You were believed, and it feels great. You probably want to tell everyone that your ex got their comeuppance in court. Before contacting the Daily Mail or posting on Social Media, you need to be aware of the rules regarding what you can and cannot say about family law proceedings concerning your children.
Our specialist family law solicitors can support you through children's law proceedings and provide guidance on the rules regarding confidentiality and transparency.
If you need help with child residence or contact proceedings, phone Evolve Family Law or complete our online enquiry form.
Telling your story
Whilst your experience with child arrangement order, specific issue order, relocation order, or prohibited steps order proceedings is your story, your child is entitled to their privacy. That’s why judges insist that all court proceedings concerning children are kept confidential.
Parents are not allowed to disclose to anyone who isn’t a party to the children's law court application the proceedings or to show them court paperwork. There are some exceptions to this rule. For example, your family law solicitor will need to explain to a potential witness why they are requesting that they file a statement of evidence on their behalf. Alternatively, your family lawyer may need to ask permission from the court to disclose relevant court documents to a child psychologist, allowing the expert to prepare a report.
Whilst it is frustrating to be constrained by children's law rules, the easiest way to think of the blanket rules is that they are there to protect children who find themselves caught up in child arrangement orders or other court proceedings. Children rarely want the story told. If a child is old enough to have a say, they don’t want their friends gossiping, and they are fiercely protective of their privacy.
Speaking about your experience of family court proceedings
Before discussing your experience (good or bad) in the family court with third parties, it is essential to consult with your lawyer. Get expert advice and follow it; otherwise, you risk a judge finding you in contempt of court. Alternatively, if you breach confidentiality rules after an interim court hearing, you risk the judge at the final hearing refusing to make the orders you want. One example of this is speaking out after the judge makes findings at a finding of fact hearing. You may be delighted or appalled by the judge’s findings about an incident of domestic violence, but speaking about your experiences and identifying yourself (and, therefore, your child) could massively backfire.
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Transparency orders and children's law court proceedings
A family court judge can be asked to issue a transparency order to permit limited media reporting of a child's law application. These orders are rarely made. Additionally, the information a parent is allowed to disclose is strictly controlled.
Recent transparency order
A current example of a transparency order application made in children's law proceedings is the 2025 reported case called M v F & Another.
In these child arrangement order proceedings, the mother accused the child’s father of rape. The father countered her serious domestic violence accusations with an allegation of parental alienation. A judge initially dismissed the mother’s allegation of abuse, but eventually, the court made a finding that the mother had been raped and stripped the father of parental responsibility for his child.
The family court issued a rare transparency order, allowing the mother to speak to the media and permitting the press to report her story. However, the order was tight enough to restrict the mother from personally writing or talking about the case. The mother’s barrister, therefore, asked the court to vary the transparency order, allowing the mother the freedom to speak out under a pseudonym to share her story and highlight her experience of the judicial system.
When considering the mother’s request to vary the transparency order, the court had to consider:
Section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960
The Family Procedure Rules 2010
The inherent jurisdiction of the High Court
Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights
The best interests of the child and the Children Act 1989
When considering the mother’s request to vary the initial transparency order, the court said:
‘The Court wishes to make clear, before embarking on its analysis of the legal arguments, that it is profoundly sympathetic to Ms. M’s position. The Court fully appreciates that the inability to be able to speak openly about how, as a victim of rape and domestic abuse she was dealt with by the family justice system, compounds the trauma she has suffered, and is experienced as a further means of coercion and control. Ms M clearly has an invaluable contribution to make to current debates about domestic abuse, parental alienation and contact with children within the family justice system. ’
The judge granted the mother’s request to vary the transparency order and allowed her to publish information under an alias about the proceedings, thereby preserving the anonymity of the child and, consequently, the parents.
The transparency order says:
‘On the question of publication, and pursuant to the Court’s inherent jurisdiction, I therefore conclude:
Permission is granted to Ms M to publish media articles about her experiences of the family court system and the domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of the father, using an alias. Mr F’s application is refused.
Permission is granted to Ms M to speak at events facilitated by organisations such as Cafcass, women’s right groups and children’s rights groups, using an alias. Mr F’s application is refused.’
The court had to weigh the child’s right to privacy against the potential harm to the child of being known as the child in these child arrangement order proceedings, against the mother’s rights and reasonable request to inform others about her experience with the court system.
The judge agreed to relax the terms of the transparency order because:
‘Ultimately, in my judgment, the greatest protection for C’s Article 8 rights is Ms M herself. She has always sought to exercise her parental responsibility in an entirely child-focused way, such that C is safeguarded and protected. Ms M is clear she will not endanger C’s own interests by risking identification. Given that clear commitment to protecting C’s anonymity, Ms M’s interests and those of C are more easily reconciled. In my judgment, Ms M can be trusted to carefully evaluate those events in which she can safely participate and those events where the risks are unmanageable. I do not consider Ms M would participate in any event where there was a risk her own anonymity or that of C would be compromised. With that safeguard in place to mitigate the risks to C, I am satisfied in balancing the competing Article 10 and Article 8 rights, the balance comes down in favour of publication. In short, Ms M can be trusted to exercise her parental responsibility to uphold and protect C’s rights and interests. In such circumstances, a blanket prohibition would be an unnecessary and disproportionate interference with Ms M’s Convention rights.’
Other family law solicitors can now use the court decision to request a transparency order in situations where a parent wishes to discuss the court proceedings while acting in the best interests of their child.
Your court experience
As family lawyers, we are acutely aware of the traumatic impact that court hearings and judgments can have. If you are believed, it’s understandable that you want to shout it from the rooftops because you want to highlight what you went through. Discussing your experience can give others the incentive to stand firm and say no to shared parenting or to refrain from contact if they don’t think it is in their child’s best interests.
Equally, if a parent has tried to stop contact by making up false allegations, it is equally understandable why the other parent would want to tell their story to give other parents hope. Recounting their judicial experience can highlight the need for additional judicial resources to reduce court delays or provide extra training so that family court professionals understand the importance of questioning one parent’s account rather than accepting it at face value.
Whatever your court experience, our family lawyers always advise caution when discussing child arrangement orders or other children's law proceedings. It is easy to type and post online and for your story to be picked up by the media, but you must ask yourself: Is this in the best interests of my child, and will I get in trouble because I haven't applied for a transparency order?
Talk to our family law experts.
Whether you are at the start of your journey to securing a child arrangement order or towards the end of it, our children law solicitors can help you navigate the complex family law rules to help you achieve the child arrangement order you seek and to ensure you understand and follow the rules on what you are allowed to report with or without a transparency order in place.
If you need help with child arrangement order proceedings, phone Evolve Family Law or complete our online enquiry form.
Louise Halford
Apr 08, 2025
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8 minute read
Summer Holiday Contact Advice for Separated and Divorced Parents
The long school summer holidays are fast approaching. Our Northwest family law solicitors offer some tips if you have been unable to agree on child contact over the school holidays.
For summer holiday contact advice, phone Evolve Family Law or complete our online enquiry form.
Dividing the days or weeks
Whether it’s your first school summer holiday after your split or your tenth year, negotiating school holiday contact can be tricky. Parents often assume that if they sorted out last year’s holiday dates with ease then this year should be equally trouble-free. That’s often not the case because:
Children’s needs change
Your ex may want to take the children overseas for the first time or to a country that you don’t think is safe
You may want to take your children on holiday with a new partner and your ex-partner objects
You can't take as much time off work this year and your former partner won't step up and share child care or pay towards the cost of school holiday clubs
Your child is refusing to stay with their other parent and your ex-partner thinks you have put them up to it
Your former partner wants to take the children on a long-haul flight to see extended family and experience their heritage. However, the plans involve a five-week trip because of the distances involved
Your ex wants to split the summer hols into days rather than weeks so you each spend a few days each week with the children and that doesn’t suit your work or holiday plans
Our family lawyers can help you whatever the reasons for being unable to agree on school summer holiday contact this year.
Ways to sort out summer holiday contact disputes
There are several ways you can sort out disagreements over holiday contact:
Legal advice and then discuss contact directly with the other parent
Letter from a family solicitor to your ex-partner
Family mediation
Application for a holiday order
Application for a child arrangement order
A family lawyer can discuss the option that best suits your needs. Here are some pointers:
Direct discussions can work after a consultation with a solicitor. The meeting will explain your rights and advise on whether the court would likely think your proposals reasonable and give information on the costs and timescales of your alternate options
A letter from a children lawyer can sometimes quickly sort out what initially appeared to be an intractable dispute that could only be solved with a court application
Family mediation is an excellent way to speak to your ex with a neutral mediator present to help you facilitate a compromise acceptable to both of you. Advice from family lawyers before the mediation can help you understand your rights and court options. That way you know when it is sensible to compromise
A holiday order is necessary if you want to take your child abroad and your ex won't give their consent. Going on an overseas holiday without either written consent or a court order could mean you are stopped at the airport or accused of parental child abduction
A child arrangement order is of benefit because if the order says your child lives with you then the law states you can take your child on holiday for up to 28 days without needing your ex-partner’s agreement or a holiday order
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School summer holiday contact tips
Here are the top tips from Evolve Family Law for negotiating summer holiday contact arrangements for your children:
1. Plan the holiday contact as early as possible
As soon as you get the school holiday schedule for the year you should start to plan holiday contact with your ex-partner. Planning needs to start early in many families as annual leave can be difficult to arrange because all working parents want time off during school holidays. It is especially complicated when you and/or your ex are part of a blended family and have the commitments of step-parents and the needs of half-siblings or stepchildren to consider.
2. Look at the wider picture
If you want to take the children skiing at Easter or want to take them on a long-haul holiday next year it's best to look at the wider picture when negotiating summer holiday contact. If your ex is prepared to make Christmas contact concessions then maybe you should be flexible over the summer holiday plans.
3. Think about the children
When you are negotiating with your former partner it can be easy to forget to ask your children what they want or to agree to a contact schedule that doesn’t suit your children. For example, no teen will want a 9 am handover and most children won't benefit from going on back-to-back holidays to Spain with each parent whilst spending the rest of the summer with nothing planned.
4. Be flexible
It can be hard to be flexible if you have booked a foreign holiday or if time off work for child care cover must be booked months in advance. However, it is best to listen to requests for changes to the contact regime as next year you may need a bit of flexibility.
5. Consult a solicitor
Too often parents don’t take their children away on a beach holiday to Spain because their ex won't agree or a parent ends up with a contact schedule that doesn’t meet their needs or the needs of their child. With advice from a family lawyer and a letter from them to your ex-partner, you may be able to sort out a summer holiday contact regime that works for you and your children.
How Evolve Family Law can help
Our team of family law experts have lots of experience in negotiating contact after parental separation and divorce. Our focus is to help you reach an agreement without the need to apply to the court for a holiday order or child arrangement order.
For summer holiday contact advice, phone Evolve Family Law or complete our online enquiry form.
Louise Halford
Mar 28, 2025
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6 minute read
How Many Overnight Stays Affect Child Maintenance?
Although the Child Maintenance Service uses a mathematical formula to calculate child maintenance many parents prefer to negotiate child support and want to know how overnight stays affect child maintenance.
In this article, our North West family law solicitors look at how overnight contact affects the amount of child support under the Child Maintenance Service rules. However, child maintenance solicitors who are negotiating child maintenance on behalf of parents don’t have to stick rigidly to the CMS rules as a parent may want to agree to child maintenance payments as part of an overall divorce financial settlement and parenting arrangement.
For family law advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Equal day-to-day care of a child
There is no child support liability under Child Maintenance Service rules if there is shared equal parenting. That’s the case even if one parent earns double or triple the amount of the other parent.
If the parents are married the court can order spousal maintenance. The court can also award the lower-earning parent more equity in the family home to help them rehouse themselves. The parents can also negotiate and agree that child support will be paid despite the child’s care being shared.
If parents are unmarried the court cannot order spousal maintenance. The court also cannot divide the equity in the family home in a way that it thinks is fair in an unmarried parent property dispute. Instead, the court must use property and trust laws when working out how the equity in an unmarried property dispute will be split or the judge can use Schedule 1 of the Children Act to provide a home while the children are dependent.
When the court is asked to make a child arrangement order and one parent wants equal care and the other parent is opposed to shared parenting the court makes its decision based on its assessment of what contact arrangements are in the best interests of the child rather than purely on the impact of overnight contact on child support.
The impact of overnight contact when care isn’t equally shared
Under the Child Maintenance Service rules if a parent has overnight contact their child support liability is reduced as follows:
Overnight contact Reduction in the amount of child support
52 nights per year 1/7th
104 nights per year 2/7ths
156 nights per year 3/7ths
175 nights per year 50%
The overnight contact rule throws up some odd consequences. A parent can look after their child all day but they don’t get a reduction in their child support payments unless the child stays overnight with them.
The overnight contact is calculated by reference to a year rather than a week or month as a shorter period might give a misleading picture. Parents should keep a record of overnight contact if they are concerned that the annual amount of contact might tip over into the next level of reduction in child support. That way there is some evidence if there is a dispute. If you have more than one child and there are different overnight contact arrangements you need to record both arrangements.
The annual overnight contact figure includes holiday contact. That applies whether the parent takes the child away on holiday or stays at home on a staycation.
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What does child maintenance cover?
Child maintenance is meant to cover the cost of caring for a child. That isn’t just the child’s food and school uniform costs but also a share of the cost of housing (mortgage or rent), heating and all the associated household expenses, such as water rates or TV licence.
The Child Maintenance Service doesn’t work out a fair division of the cost of caring for a child. Instead, it uses its mathematical formula. Parents paying child support and parents receiving child maintenance often perceive this formula as unfair and very arbitrary.
For example, a mother looking after a child as the primary carer has the same monthly mortgage payment whether her ex-husband has overnight contact on 155 or 157 nights per year but his having two extra nights of overnight contact a year could make a big difference to the amount she receives in child support and to her ability to pay her bills.
Likewise, a father who only gets to see his children on 103 nights per year as his ex-wife has moved hundreds of miles away still has to pay for a house that’s big enough to comfortably house the children when they come to stay with him. The father will still be liable to pay child support even if he is the lower earner and even though he didn’t agree to his ex-wife’s decision to move away with the children.
Although child support is meant to cover all the things children need, child maintenance lawyers are frequently told that a parent objects to paying child maintenance because the money given as child support appears to be being spent on the receiving parent’s clothes and activities and not on the children. There is no requirement for the receiving parent to provide evidence that the child support payment is being spent solely on the child and their living costs.
What things affect child maintenance?
The amount payable in child maintenance isn’t just affected by the level of overnight contact. If the paying parent decides to make voluntary extra pension payments this reduces their gross income on which the child maintenance calculation is made. That policy seems to prioritise long-term retirement goals over the child support needs of children.
Other criticisms of the child support system include the deductions allowed if a paying parent has other children living in their household. The rigid formula approach takes no account of the fact that the parent receiving child support can end up with a sudden reduction in child maintenance because of family decisions made by the paying parent.
Negotiating child maintenance
Most family lawyers see the child maintenance formula as a useful starting point. If parents want to negotiate child support so the figure is higher or lower, the child maintenance solicitors' focus should be on ensuring that the agreement reached is fair and workable. That involves reality testing your divorce financial settlement so you know that the full financial deal stacks up from the share in the equity in the family home to the split of pensions and of course spousal maintenance and child support. Your agreement then needs to be incorporated into a binding financial court order so you can enforce it if necessary.
For family law advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Louise Halford
Feb 05, 2025
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6 minute read
Can I Record My Child And Use The Recording In My Child Arrangement Order Application?
It's beyond frustrating when you know your child wants to live with you or spend longer with you but no one is listening.
Our North West family law solicitors are asked whether parents can secretly record their children and use the video clip as evidence in court.
If you need help with sorting out custody or contact our experts can advise you on a child arrangement order application and represent you.
For family law advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Should I record my child saying they want more contact?
If you are separated and your ex-partner is adamant your child says they don’t want to spend more time with you it is tempting to prove your ex wrong. You may want to openly or covertly record your child’s views on their living arrangements. Here are five reasons why it’s not a good idea:
Your ex-partner won't believe the recording
Your former partner will say you manipulated your child
Your child will be told you can't be trusted
Your ex-partner may stop the contact you currently have
Your ex will bring up the fact that you recorded your child if you make a child arrangement order application
Can I secretly record my child and show the recording to the CAFCASS officer?
Some parents are tempted to covertly record their children because the referral to CAFCASS seems slow. That’s because, according to CAFCASS statistics, between April 2023 and March 2024 the organisation received 39,661 children’s private law referrals.
If you have applied for a child arrangement order and you are getting a bad vibe about what the CAFCASS Section 7 report may say then don’t make the situation worse by secretly recording your child saying that they want to live with you or spend more time with you.
If you tell a CAFCASS officer that you have a recording they will want to disclose that to the court and the other parent. The recording may flag up safeguarding concerns. For example, was the child coerced into saying what they said or manipulated? The recording may also raise trust issues. Can you be trusted not to record what the other parent says to you or your meetings with the CAFCASS officer?
Can I use a recording of my child as evidence in a child arrangement order application?
Let's set the scene. The CAFCASS officer has filed a Section 7 report in your child arrangement order application. The CAFCASS officer says your son does not want extra contact with you. You don’t agree and have recorded your son saying they want to spend every minute of every weekend with you. It’s a cute video. When the CAFCASS officer gives evidence in court you plan to play her your covert recording.
It reads like one of those TV court moments. What we can guarantee is:
The judge will be unimpressed by your actions and
The CAFCASS officer won't say in the witness box that the recommendations in their report are wrong
Your actions may mean that you end up with less contact than the judge might otherwise have ordered.
When can I use a covert recording of my child in a child arrangement order application?
A covert recording can rarely be used in a child arrangement order, specific issue order, prohibited steps order or relocation order application.
The reason why CAFCASS officers are asked to prepare a court report on your child’s wishes and feelings is so they can independently find out your child’s views on living arrangements and make recommendations. If you secretly record your child and ask to use the recording as evidence the judge will decide whether to allow you to do so. They make their decision based on previous case law and guidance issued by the Family Justice Council.
If I can't use a recording, can I ask the judge to meet my child?
It is rare for the judge to meet with a child because:
It is thought that going to court is stressful for children
The child doesn’t get to decide on the child arrangement order application
The CAFCASS officer's job is to relay your child’s wishes to the court
If the judge does decide to see an older child, the judge will normally meet them in a private room and not in the courtroom. Neither parent will be present at the meeting although the judge will relay the gist of what the young person said.
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If I can't use a recording of my child, how can I involve them in sorting out their living arrangements?
Understandably parents and older children can get frustrated if they think they are not being listened to. Equally children of any age should not think that if they say what they want to do then that’s what will happen. Their preferred residence or contact plans may not be suitable for either parent or fit in around parental work schedules.
There are lots of ways your child can get involved in working out the best post-separation living arrangements:
Family discussions
Family mediation
Being made a party to the court proceedings
Family discussions only work if you and your ex-partner can have a civil discussion. If not, it isn’t fair to involve your child in direct discussions.
Family mediation can include an older child but the mediator must be qualified in this type of mediation. It can work well if you have a teen - although neither you nor your ex-partner may like what your child has to say.
When child arrangement order proceedings are started, either parent can ask the judge to order that the child is joined as a party to the court application. It's rare for the court to agree to this request other than in complicated situations or where the court thinks that neither parent is saying what the child wants.
Why should I not video-record what residence and contact arrangements my child wants?
Covert video recordings may appear the simple solution when you and your ex can't agree on what your child wants but:
Your child’s wishes are not the only factor in deciding living arrangements
Court guidelines and caselaw are against it
Recordings can be counter-productive
You may be found to be manipulative and controlling
Before you decide to record your child either openly or covertly speak to a children law solicitor so you understand the implications and what it could mean for you in your battle to get to see more of your son or daughter.
For family law advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Louise Halford
Dec 21, 2024
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6 minute read
New Guidance on Alienating Behaviour and Parental Alienation Allegations in Children Law Proceedings
The Family Justice Council has issued new guidance for family courts in England and Wales on alienating behaviour and parental alienation.
The new guidance follows an increase in accusations of alienating behaviour to counter allegations of domestic abuse in child arrangement order applications.
Our North West family law solicitors can help if you are a separated or divorced parent and unable to agree on the parenting arrangements for your children. We can explain the court process and the non-court-based resolution options and advise you on the impact of allegations of domestic abuse and/or alienating behaviour on custody and contact arrangements.
For family law advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
The Family Justice Council guidance on alienating behaviour
The 2024 Family Justice Council (FJC) guidance guides courts, family law professionals and parents on:
The terminology to use where there are allegations of alienating behaviour
The court process
How the courts should consider allegations of domestic abuse and alienating behaviour
The use of experts where allegations of alienating behaviour are made
Listening to children and assessing their welfare needs
Key points from the Family Justice Council guidance:
There are three key points from the FJC guidance:
Domestic abuse should not be equated with parental alienation
A child’s reluctance to see a parent does not mean they have been subject to parental alienation without evidence and a court finding of alienating behaviour
Findings of alienating behaviour will be rare
New terminology from the Family Justice Council guidance on alienating behaviour
The guidance suggests the use of the following terminology by courts and family law professionals:
Attachment, affinity and alignment (AAA) – why children may not want to spend time with one parent or reject a parent. These reasons are not due to psychological manipulation by a parent or alienating behaviour but just a child’s emotional response to their experience of being parented
Appropriate justified rejection (AJR) – where a child not wanting to spend time with one parent is considered an understandable response to the parent’s behaviour. The behaviour could be directed to the child or other parent. For example, if the child has witnessed domestic abuse towards one parent
Alienating Behaviours (AB) – psychologically manipulative behaviours (whether intentional or not) by a parent towards a child that results in the child’s reluctance, resistance or refusal to spend time with the parent
Protective Behaviours (PB) – behaviour by a parent to protect the child from exposure to abuse by the other parent, or from suffering harm or additional harm because of the other parent’s abuse. For example, if a parent has unresolved anger management or addiction issues that affect their parenting
Reluctance, resistance or refusal (RRR) – behaviours by a child over contact and their relationship with a parent and the reasons for the reluctance, resistance or refusal to see one parent may be due to a variety of potential causes
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Making allegations of alienating behaviour in child arrangement order proceedings
The new FJC guidance does not stop allegations of alienating behaviour being made by a parent unable to see their child or where they only have limited contact. However, the guidance does try to stop the practice of an allegation of alienating behaviour being made in child arrangement order applications where an accusation of domestic abuse has been made as an almost automatic counter to the initial allegation.
If a parent has engaged in alienating behaviour the person alleging the alienating behaviour needs to show that:
The child is reluctant, resisting or refusing to engage in a relationship with you
The child’s reluctance, resistance or refusal is related to the other parent's actions. If the child doesn’t want to see you for different reasons, then this is either called ‘’appropriate justified rejection’’ (AJR) or down to ‘’alignment, affinity or attachment’’ (AAA)
The other parent has engaged in behaviours that have directly or indirectly impacted on the child, leading to the child’s reluctance, resistance or refusal to engage in a relationship with you
If you think your child has been encouraged to reject you and to refuse contact with you it is important to say this at the outset of your child arrangement order application. This means the court can:
Consider which type of family court judge should decide your child arrangement order application
The type of involvement and report needed from CAFCASS
If there is a need for a separate finding of fact hearing and other case management issues
The need for expert evidence
The later you raise these allegations in the court process the harder you may find it to get the court to conclude that it is necessary and proportionate to fully investigate your concerns.
Responding to allegations of alienating behaviour in child arrangement order applications
If you are a parent accused of alienating behaviour it’s important to talk to a specialist family law solicitor who can explain the court process, your non-court resolution options and the best strategy to deal with the accusations of alienating behaviour.
This strategy will depend on whether you are the parent of a stroppy teenager who doesn’t want to spend much time with either parent or a clingy two-year-old who likes their routine and home comforts or a football/ballet-mad eight-year-old who doesn’t want to miss out on matches or performances.
Whatever your family circumstances or child’s age our children lawyers can help you if you are a separated or divorced parent unable to agree on the parenting arrangements for your children and in a dispute over the reasons why a child does not want to spend time with one parent.
For family law advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Louise Halford
Dec 19, 2024
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5 minute read
How Often is Child Maintenance Recalculated? Can Child Maintenance be Varied?
When you are a separated parent you need to know how much you will be receiving or paying in child support. Otherwise, how do you know if you can afford your mortgage or rent payments or if you can book to take your child on holiday? Whether you think the child maintenance payments are too high or too low there is some benefit in knowing there is a fixed amount payable. However, our Northwest family law solicitors are asked about when child maintenance can be recalculated and varied.
For expert family law advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Can child maintenance be varied?
Child maintenance can be varied. How and when you go about doing so depends on how the payments are made. The payments could be through:
Voluntary payments – called a family based agreement
Child Maintenance Service with the Service either just carrying out the assessment or assessing the figure and sorting out the payments
Family court order
Who can ask for child maintenance to be changed?
The person paying the child support or the parent receiving it can ask for the level of child maintenance to be changed. For example, the parent paying child support is entitled to ask for child maintenance to be reviewed if:
Parenting arrangements change. For example, if the child moves to live with them, the arrangements are changed to shared parenting or if there is an increase in overnight contact visits
Income changes. For example, they lose their job, overtime payments or other sources of income
Personal or financial circumstances change such as moving in with a partner who has children, having another child, separating from a partner and being assessed as liable to pay child support for other children, increasing pension contributions
Sometimes the parent paying child maintenance thinks a review of child support is justified when under the child maintenance rules it isn’t. For example, if the parent who receives the child support:
Starts a new relationship and their partner moves in so the parent is getting help with their bills
Has a change of financial circumstances such as getting a promotion at work, a better paid job or inherits money
Stops child contact without good reason but expects child support to still be paid
Uses the child maintenance money in a way that the payer is unhappy about. For example, the parent looking after the children going off on annual holidays without the children or appears to spend the child support on their own clothes and hobbies rather than on the children
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Can a parent request a review of child support?
A paying parent or a parent receiving child support can always ask for a review of child support where the child maintenance is being paid voluntarily. Child support will not normally go up by inflation unless that is how you agree to increases in child support. If you have been using the Child Maintenance Service formula to calculate the maintenance payable for your child it is usual to review the amount based on any changes to the paying parent’s gross income and any other relevant changes, such as the frequency of overnight contact.
Will the Child Maintenance Service carry out a child support review?
The Child Maintenance Service will carry out an annual review of an earlier child support assessment to see if the child maintenance figure should go up or down. A request can be made for an earlier review but the Child Maintenance Service will normally only undertake the review if there has been a change of 25% or more in the paying parent’s gross income or other limited situations.
Will the court vary the amount of child support payable?
The court can only make a child support order for a biological child in limited circumstances. If the child support is for a stepchild the Child Maintenance Service does not have jurisdiction and a court order can be made and varied. In most cases, where the court order is for child maintenance for a biological child, once the court order is over 12 months old you cannot apply back to the court to vary or enforce it.
What happens if I need more financial support?
If you need more child support than the child maintenance calculation provided by the Child Maintenance Service (or after you have carried out your own online calculation) then provided you were married or in a civil partnership with the child’s biological parent you can ask for spousal maintenance in addition to the child support.
You won't be able to ask for spousal maintenance if:
You were not married or in a civil partnership with the child’s other parent
You agreed to a clean break financial court order as part of your divorce financial settlement
You have remarried
What happens if I can't afford child maintenance?
If you can't afford to pay child support you can negotiate a reduction if you are paying voluntarily or you can ask the Child Maintenance Service to conduct a review based on a change in your circumstances. If your gross income has not changed but your outgoings have increased this will not change the amount payable by you in child maintenance other than in limited circumstances. For example, if your mortgage payments have gone up your child support payments stay the same unless there has been a change in your gross income.
Legal advice and child support
Asking for a review of the amount of child support can make the relationship between separated or divorced parents more difficult. However, the amount paid in child support must be kept under review as the figure will need to go up or down as income levels change. Our family law solicitors can help you negotiate child support as part of your divorce financial settlement or we can help you review the amount of child maintenance payable when financial or contact arrangements change.
For friendly expert family law advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Louise Halford
Dec 02, 2024
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6 minute read
Can a Grandparent Apply to the Court for a Contact Order?
In the run-up to school holidays, there are grandparents across Northwest England who either have no contact with their grandchildren or the occasional brief meeting. As specialist family law solicitors we understand how distressing it is for them when other grandparents excitedly talk about their family holiday plans or mention the exhaustion of looking after little ones when they are in their 60s or 70s.
If you are a grandparent who either isn’t seeing your grandchildren or not seeing them as much as you would like then you can apply to court for a grandparent contact order.
For expert advice call our team of specialist children lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Does a grandparent need a family law solicitor?
If you are not seeing your grandchildren as much as you would like then it sounds as if you do need help from a family law solicitor.
A family lawyer will not rush you off to court without a backward glance. At Evolve Family Law we will carefully consider:
How much contact time you are getting with your grandchild
Whether you are likely to improve on that amount through a solicitor-based negotiation or family mediation or applying to the family court for a child arrangement order
The impact of raising contact on family dynamics
The reasons for a parent's objections to grandparent contact or the reason for the opposition to increasing the amount of time you spend with your grandchildren
What your grandchildren want assuming they are old enough to have a say
After looking at the advantages and disadvantages of non-court-based dispute resolution or making an application to the court to get an order you will be in a lot better position to decide on the right approach for you.
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Cut off from your grandchildren
If you have been cut off from your grandchildren you may not feel that you have a lot to lose by making a court application. That may be true but the Family Procedure Rules now require you to try to sort things out between yourselves before you ask the court to make an order in your favour. That may feel like a waste of time if your child, son-in-law or daughter-in-law is entrenched in their views and won't listen to common sense or pleas from you.
If you apply to the court before trying family mediation or before asking your family law solicitor to negotiate then the family court judge can adjourn your application for mediation or for discussions to take place. That’s why it is best to speak to a children lawyer to discuss non-court-based options as they can suggest a way forward that suits your situation. For example, family arbitration may be your preferred option once you have enough information about all the alternatives.
Applying for a grandparent contact order
A family law solicitor will tell you that there is no such thing as a grandparent contact order in English law. When parents and extended family cannot agree on who a child should live with and parental and extended family contact then parents and extended family can apply to the family court for a child arrangement order.
A parent has a legal right to apply for a child arrangement order. A grandparent must first apply for permission to apply for a child arrangement order. That step is not as difficult as it sounds and should not deter you from making a court application.
When deciding on a leave application by a grandparent the court will look at:
The connection to the child
The nature of the application for contact
Whether the application might harm the child’s well-being
Once you have permission to apply for your child arrangement order the court process is the same as a parent applying to the court for a child arrangement order. The court will assess if a child arrangement order and contact is in your grandchild’s best interests after considering a range of factors.
Will I get a grandparent contact order?
A family law solicitor will need to know the reasons why your child or son-in-law or daughter-in-law is refusing you contact with your grandchild. Generally, the family court thinks it is in a child’s best interests to have contact with their extended family, including maternal and paternal grandparents.
The parent of a child may no longer be in contact with their child after their separation or divorce. Maybe they are living a long distance away or working overseas or the parent with care may not have wanted contact because they have remarried. None of these are reasons to stop a grandparent from having a relationship with their grandchild.
Alternatively, a parent may say that it would be emotionally abusive for a grandparent to see a grandchild because of the extent of a family rift and because the child would be exposed to the grandparent’s negative views about the parents during contact.
Family dynamics can be very complicated but they can be successfully explored to help you obtain an order to enable you to see your grandchild even if you are not fully able to rebuild the relationship between your child or son or daughter-in-law.
The family law solicitors at Evolve Family Law can help you resume contact with your grandchild or extend the amount of time you can see them. Our lawyers provide specialist and sensitive advice as we understand that your priority is to spend time with your grandchildren so our focus is on that rather than criticising the child’s parents or others for past wrongs.
For expert advice call our team of specialist children lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Louise Halford
Jul 12, 2024
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5 minute read
LGBTQIA+ Separation and Divorce
The decision to separate and start divorce proceedings or end a civil partnership is a difficult one for any couple. If you are an LGBTQIA+ couple there are particular challenges when separating or getting divorced.
For expert advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Choosing the right family lawyer
Your family lawyer needs empathy and to understand the challenges you have faced as an LGBTQIA+ couple and during your separation as well as your concerns and fears. Being a red-hot family lawyer is a necessity and having a good sense of humour and ‘getting you’ and what you are going through is a real advantage.
At Evolve Family Law we encourage all our potential clients to give us a call to see how we can help you. We are all specialists in family and private client law and pride ourselves on our friendly approach to advising on LGBTQIA+ separation and divorce.
LGBTQIA+ separation
If you are separating from your partner finding somewhere else to live may be a challenge for you. It may not be possible or comfortable for you to camp out with mum or dad and all your friends may be mutual ones, loath to take sides. Finding somewhere to rent may be tough on a single salary, especially in an area where you feel safe.
You may want to stay at the family home but are unsure if you can take the mortgage over in your name. Alternatively, your ex may have kicked you out and won't let you return to live at the property. You may be wary about anyone believing that you have been subject to domestic abuse if it was psychological, financial or involved coercive control.
Our family lawyers can advise you about your rights to stay in the family home, interim spousal maintenance (if you are married or in a civil partnership), and injunction remedies if you were subjected to domestic abuse in your relationship.
LGBTQIA+ divorce
With the introduction of no-fault divorce ending a civil partnership or getting divorced has got that bit easier as you no longer have to have been separated for at least 2 years and nor do you have to come up with ways in which your spouse has behaved unreasonably before you can start divorce proceedings.
Our divorce solicitors can either start the divorce proceedings for you as the sole divorce applicant or, if it is an amicable separation, we can act for both of you and file a joint divorce application.
LGBTQIA+ parenting
Whilst children are the priority in every relationship, it is often the case that if you are an LGBTQIA+ couple you may have had a hard journey to parenthood with IVF, surrogacy or adoption struggles. The preciousness of your children can make it hard to accept that parenting after separation should be shared, especially if one of you is the biological parent or the one who pushed to have children.
If only one of you is biologically related to your child, then this is a sensitive issue but our family lawyers can help you understand who has parental responsibility for your child. If your child was born while you were in a civil partnership or marriage you will both have parental responsibility. In other scenarios, you may both have parental responsibility through a surrogacy parental order, adoption order, or parental responsibility order. Our family solicitors can advise if you both have parental responsibility and the implications if one of you doesn’t have parental responsibility. It does not mean you have no redress as you can apply to the family court for permission to apply for a child arrangement order so you can secure a contact order or an order that the child lives with you.
You may also have the complexity of children from previous relationships. Your ex-partner may want to maintain an ongoing relationship with their stepchildren whilst you think that the child is busy enough splitting their time between you and their other biological parent. Again, there are legal solutions if you are not able to reach a parenting agreement.
At Evolve Family Law we specialise in children law and can advise on parenting plans to help you reach an agreement on residence and contact. If you cannot reach an agreement with your ex-partner, we can help you apply for or respond to a child arrangement order application.
LGBTQIA+ financial settlements after separation.
Whatever the nature of your relationship you both need a fair financial settlement after you split up. If you are married or in a civil partnership you have more family law rights than if you are in an unmarried relationship. For example, if you are in a cohabiting relationship, you have no right to spousal maintenance or a pension sharing order, and your claims on the family home or family business are limited to property law rights or business law rights. However, if you are a cohabitee or former cohabitee you may still have a property claim on the family home even if it is owned in the sole name of your former partner.
If you are married or in a civil partnership the law on how assets are divided is based on need rather than the strict application of property or corporate law. The legal position and your options may be different again if you are caring for a dependent child.
Our financial settlement solicitors can talk through your situation and what you want and need to achieve from your financial settlement. We can then negotiate hard to get you a fair financial settlement or, where necessary, apply to the family court to get you a court order that reflects your rights as a husband, wife, civil partner or former cohabitee.
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LGBTQIA+ Wills and private client advice
LGBTQIA+ couples who are not married don’t always realise the importance of Wills whilst they are in a relationship. It is equally important, if you are married, in a civil partnership or former cohabitees, that you review your Will and Lasting Power of Attorney when you are separating from your partner.
For expert advice on LGBTQIA+ separation and divorce call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Robin Charrot
Mar 15, 2024
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6 minute read
How to Deal With Parental Alienation
Parental alienation is one of those topics that parents feel embarrassed to talk about. If you are being prevented from seeing your child after a separation or divorce you may be worried that family, friends and colleagues will judge you assuming you must be the one at fault if you cannot get to see your child.
At Evolve Family Law our solicitors are experts in child arrangement order applications involving allegations of alienating behaviour. If you are being stopped from seeing your child our family law solicitors can help you sort out post-separation parenting arrangements for your child or enforce a child arrangement order if your ex-partner still will not let you see your child.
For expert family law advice call our team or complete our online enquiry form.
Are you to blame for parental alienation?
Lots of people assume that if parental alienation has taken place the parent who is not having contact with their child must have done something ‘’bad’’. However, the definition of parental alienation is one parent turning the mind of a child against the other parent and the child’s negative view of the parent is not justified by any parental behaviour. Instead, the child is being alienated from one parent by the other parent’s deliberate or unintentional psychological manipulation of the child.
How to deal with parental alienation
Sometimes it is obvious to everyone involved with a child, from family to schoolteachers and health professionals, that parental alienation is taking place. In other families, the process is more subtle but just as insidious.
For parents who fear parental alienation is taking place there are some tips on how to deal with parental alienation and maintain a relationship with your child.
We recommend that you:
Take legal advice quickly
If you think, your ex-partner or former husband or wife is talking inappropriately about you in front of your child it is important to act quickly. If you wait then the situation may get to the stage that the child is so alienated that they say that they do not want to have contact with you.
If you are not able to speak to your former partner directly then you could try speaking to a family member or you could suggest a referral to family mediation or family counselling. If those options do not solve the difficulties, do not delay in taking legal advice and looking at the option of applying for a child arrangements order.
If you delay in acting then if the parental alienation behaviour continues it will become harder to resolve the situation and repair the psychological damage experienced by your child.
Do not blame the child
It is normal to think ‘’my daughter is behaving just like her mother’’ or to say ‘’the apple does not fall far from the tree’’. When a child is playing up or refusing to speak to or see you, it is easy to transfer your frustration with the situation onto the child. After all, why can’t your child stand up for themselves and demand more contact with you or why can’t they at least look cheerful when they do see you? As frustrating as it is, blaming a child or showing your exasperation with the situation is likely to make the situation worse.
Do not blame the parent
When you get frustrated about parental alienation, it is easy to think that the solution is to tell your side of the story. In the process, you are likely to denigrate the other parent. Taking that approach is likely to make your child more insecure and anxious, and less inclined to have contact.
Do not walk away
The statistics of how many parents lose contact with their children after a separation or divorce are appalling. Many of those cases do not involve parental alienation but it is sometimes easy to think that your child would be ‘’better off’’ without you.
Most children law professionals believe that a child needs and deserves a loving relationship with both parents, even if that has to be achieved through the making of a child arrangements order.
Find time for other things in your life
If you experience parental alienation, it is easy to obsess over your ex-partner and their behaviour. By doing that you can play into their hands. It is important that you find time to enjoy other aspects of your life during any children court proceedings.
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What will the court do if it thinks that alienating behaviour is taking place?
If you make an application for a child arrangement order the court will carefully consider whether contact is in your child’s best interests. If a child is saying that they do not want contact because of parental alienation, the court can take some proactive steps to try to help you rebuild a relationship with your child. In extreme situations, where a judge finds that the alienating behaviour has caused emotional harm and that the primary carer does not understand the damage created by their actions, the judge can make an order to change the primary carer of the child.
How can Evolve Family Law help you?
Evolve Family Law is a specialist family law firm with offices in Cheshire and Whitefield, Manchester. Whatever your children or family law concern, Louise Halford and the children law team at Evolve Family Law solicitors will work with you to help you reach a solution.
For expert family law advice call our team or complete our online enquiry form.
Louise Halford
Feb 16, 2024
·
5 minute read
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