A guide for separated parents going to court.
In this article, Consultant Solicitor Babatunde Akinyanju discusses what to expect if you’re attending court for a children matter.
Babatunde specialises in Children Law, Criminal Law and Professional Misconduct. Prior to joining Setfords, he was a Justices’ Legal Adviser for several years.
DISCLAIMER This article does not constitute legal advice. If you require advice or are unsure about your legal position, please consult a solicitor who specialises in children law.
Going to court
Attending court can be an unnerving and stressful experience. However, by knowing more about what to expect, you can be better prepared.
The purpose of this article is to give a brief breakdown of what to expect if this is your first time attending court. Although this guidance is for family members attending court for children matters, the practicalities highlighted in this article are also common to other types of court cases. For example, civil (housing, debt, employment, business, etc) or criminal matters (road traffic offences, assault, theft, etc).
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Typical Family Court Orders
There are many different kinds of court orders in family proceedings. Read on for more information about them. Please note, these are orders for children matters, not divorce.
Private Law
‘Private law’ refers to disputes over children matters between individuals, typically parents, relatives, or others with parental responsibility. The reference to ‘parent’ below includes the child’s father, mother, grandparent, guardian, or other relative.
Child Arrangements Order (CAO): this is the overall order that decides where your child lives, when they spend time with each parent, and what kind of contact takes place.
Live with order (previously referred to as ‘custody’ or ‘residence order’): an order regarding the child’s living arrangements. For example, do they live and sleep in Parent A’s home, or at Parent B’s?
Shared care or Joint lives with: an order that determines the child lives with each separated parent. It could be a 50-50 split, or any other split as agreed by the parents or ordered by the judge.
Spend time (previously referred to as ‘contact’ or ‘access’): this order determines how much time the child spends with a particular parent. For example, it could be a couple of hours per week, every other weekend, or something else, depending on the child’s needs and the capacity of each parent to care for them.
Direct contact: this means that the child is spending time physically with the parent, either at the parent’s home, a relative’s home, or in a public place such as a play area, shopping centre, or restaurant.
Supervised or supported contact: this means the child sees the parent at a dedicated child contact centre.
Indirect contact: this means that the child is not spending time physically with the parent. Instead, contact may be by video call, telephone, or by correspondence only.
Prohibited Steps Order (PSO): an order that means a parent cannot exercise their rights and duties without the consent of the other parent or the court.
Specific Issue Order: this covers miscellaneous circumstances where separated parents are in dispute about the child’s upbringing. It includes issues about education, religion, medication, relocation to another part of the UK or abroad, holidays, and more.
Other private law orders include:
- Parental orders: an order that transfers the legal parental status from the surrogate to the intended parents following a surrogacy arrangement.
- Special guardianship order: an order naming a child’s special guardian (i.e. someone who is not their birth parent), who then holds parental responsibility for the child.
- Step-parent adoption: an order that makes a step-parent a child’s legal parent alongside their partner, giving them parental responsibility and removing this from the child’s other birth parent.
Applications by the Local Authority Social Workers (Children’s Services)
Sometimes, the local authority will be involved in children matters. Court orders involving the local authority social workers, also known as Children’s Services, include:
- Emergency protection order: an immediate, short term order used to protect a child from harm. E.g. removing or keeping them where they are for their safety.
- Care order: this enables the local authority to share parental responsibility for the child and decide where they will live, for example taking them in to care or placing them with relatives.
- Supervision order: this places the child under the supervision of the local authority, who then has a duty to advise and assist the child and their family.
- Placement/Adoption order: this enables a local authortiy to place a child for adoption by approved adopters.
- Secure accommodation order: an order that allows the local authority to place a child in secure accommodation, e.g. a secure children’s home, where they will not be free to come and go. These are only made in specific circumstances where the child will likely come to harm in other settings.
- Deprivation of Liberty order: this order makes it lawful to deprive a child of their liberty (i.e. remove their everyday freedoms) to protect them from harm, not necessarily in a secure children’s home.
Judges in the Family Court
There are three categories of judges in the Family Court. When an application is sent to the court, a judge or Justices’ Legal Adviser will decide what level of judiciary deals with the case.
1. Lay Justices (Magistrates) are lay persons (not legally qualified) who volunteer their time to sit in the Family Court. They receive training in the law. Justices sit as a bench of 3 or minimum of 2. The justice who sits in the middle is the chair and they are addressed as “Sir or “Madam” in court.
The Justices’ Legal Adviser (JLA) is a professional lawyer who advises lay justices about family law and procedure in court. The JLA also assists the justices in drafting their judgements and order. JLAs sometimes sit in court without lay justices to make case management decisions.
2. District Judge (DJ). A District Judge is an experienced professional judge in the family court. Most DJs also deal with civil matters in the county court. A Deputy District Judge (DDJ) is a professional judge who sits part-time. DJs or DDJs are addressed as “Judge” in court.
3. A Circuit Judge (CJ) is the most senior judge in the family court. CJs hear extremely serious cases, such as cases involving sexual or severe physical abuse of a child. Recorders are judges who sit part-time. CJs are addressed as “Your Honour.”
Arriving at court
Accessibility
Most court buildings are wheelchair accessible. However, it is worth informing court staff in advance of mobility or other issues (braille, hearing, language issues) to ensure that adequate adjustments are available to enable the court user to participate fully in court. For example, if your case is listed in a courtroom on the 4th floor, the lift might be out of order, which means the case has to be moved to a courtroom on street level.
What time to arrive
Arrive at least one hour before the time you are due to be in court. Take note that you need to go through security checks at the entrance, so only bring essential items with you.
Case number
Have a hard copy of the letter you received from the court to hand. It will include the case number, which is what you need to find the courtroom where your case will be heard. If there is an usher present, show them your paperwork, or check the court notice board for the location of the courtroom. If in doubt, ask security. Some courthouses have many courtrooms on different floors, so it is essential that you are in the correct part of the building at the right time.
Wifi
Wifi connection is available via GovWifi. You’ll need to create an account to access it.
How long does it take?
Be prepared for a long wait before your case is called. Courts tend to have extremely busy caseloads. Some courts “block-list” cases. This means that different cases may be listed at the same time. For example, there might be two cases listed at 10 am. It is up to the judge or legal adviser on the day to decide which case is given priority.
There is also the possibility that cases overrun beyond their allocated time. This could result in a case listed in the morning not being called until after the lunch break, or even postponed to another date.
Inside the courtroom
Mobile phones must be switched off.
Recording is not allowed. Unlawful recording in court is contempt of court, which could result in imprisonment.
Discussions, pronouncements, and court orders are confidential and must not be shared with anyone outside the courtroom, unless the judge has given permission in writing.
Useful links
Find a court or tribunal – GOV.UK
Cafcass – an organisation that advises the family courts about the welfare of children and what is in their best interests
Information about family mediation – usually the first step for children matters before they reach court.
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