Where parents have an existing Child Arrangements Order (“Order”) setting out the arrangements for when the children are to spend time with each parent, this will and should always include holiday periods. Naturally, summer holidays are a crucial period to consider. This is a long period of time for children who are in school to be out of their usual routine, whilst parents often continue to work. Arrangements often entail a parent caring for the child over a longer period of time in one block, and will usually include the details for taking the child out of the UK.
Even where there is an existing Order in place, there can still be disagreements between parents as to what happens in the holiday periods. Lack of communication between parents, inability to reach an agreement on dates/activities and overall changes to circumstances can mean things do not always go according to plan. If the existing Order is not clear (or as is often the case, things change and/or the children get older can mean the agreed structure needs to change slightly and a degree of flexibility is required). Firstly, where there are existing arrangements and one parent is seeking to move away from the arrangements, if this can’t be agreed, then the only option is to make an application for enforcement of the existing Order. Often this can be expensive and take time. Such applications should be approached with caution. It is sometimes sensible to try and agree a small variation for that particular time frame instead of incurring substantial legal costs by relying on the more stressful formal process. At Seddons, we would always encourage parents to consider mediation as a more child-focused economical route to disagreements around arrangements.
There are of course situations where an urgent application to the Court to enforce an Order compelling one parent to do something ( known as a Specific Issue Order), or preventing one parent from doing something (known as a Prohibited Steps Order) is necessary. These applications are usually justified. For example, on the basis that one parent refuses to agree to not take a child out of the UK, and there are concerns that this would not be in the child’s best interests or there is a genuine concerns the child will not be returned to the UK.
Sometimes, one parent can refuse to provide the passport for the child to enable a holiday to be booked by the other parent. By the nature of these applications, they are usually time sensitive with there being little time between the application being filed, and the event that one parent is trying to prevent/compel. Worryingly these situations can arise even where there is an existing Order in place. For example, if one parent is simply refusing to adhere to the terms of an existing Order. This is where an Enforcement Application may also be justified.
To ask the Court to Order the other parent to comply with the terms of the existing Order, we would urge parents to try and resolve the issues between them or at mediation if possible. This is often much better for the child and for the parents longer term co-parenting relationship. However, where an application is justified on the basis of the needs of the child then this should be dealt with as soon as possible.
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