LEGAL EAGLE: I am struggling to agree child arrangement with ex-partner

I am currently in court proceedings in relation to child arrangements with my ex-partner. Due to some allegations made by my ex about me, the current court order states the children live with my ex-partner and spend time with me at the discretion of Children’s Services and upon agreement between me and my ex. Children’s Services have confirmed that they agree to me spending time with my children, but I am struggling to agree arrangements with my ex as they are being difficult.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Aug 2022, 00:00 BST
"The starting point for the court is that the children should have a relationship with both parents so long as it is safe to do so.""The starting point for the court is that the children should have a relationship with both parents so long as it is safe to do so."
"The starting point for the court is that the children should have a relationship with both parents so long as it is safe to do so."

A Child Arrangements Order states who the children will live with and who they spend time with.

The starting point for the court is that the children should have a relationship with both parents so long as it is safe to do so.

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As your ex-partner is raising allegations about you, these will need to be investigated by CAFCASS or Children’s Services to ensure that the children are safe in your care.

As your family time is at the discretion of Children’s Services, they should give a recommendation/opinion on what family time they believe to be in the children’s best interests.

As Children’s Service have confirmed that they agree to you spending time with your children, you would need to obtain the details on what kind of family time they agree to.

This is in relation to whether it would be direct or indirect, supervised, or unsupervised and the quantity.

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With this information you should be able to form a proposal to your ex-partner to see if an agreement can be made in relation to interim family time moving forward.

However, if an agreement is not made, then your next option would be to make an application within the existing proceedings in order to ask for a court hearing to deal with the issue of family time.

This is done on a C2 application which can be accompanied by a statement to explain the reasons for which you are bringing the matter back to court.

Your ex-partner would be invited to this hearing, and it would also be beneficial for the social worker to attend this hearing also so that the court can hear from them too.

The court will then decide what interim family time should take place, taking into consideration what is best for the children and the views of the parties and the social worker.