Child Arrangements Order UK: How to Apply and What to Expect

A Child Arrangements Order is the main legal tool the family courts in England and Wales use to set out where a child lives and how much time they spend with each parent or other person. If you and your co-parent cannot agree on arrangements, or if an agreement has broken down, understanding what a CAO is and how the process works is an essential first step.

What is a Child Arrangements Order?

A Child Arrangements Order (CAO) is a court order made under section 8 of the Children Act 1989. It replaced Residence Orders and Contact Orders in April 2014 under changes introduced by the Children and Families Act 2014. The new name was chosen deliberately — to move away from the language of winners and losers, and focus instead on practical arrangements that serve the child.

A CAO has two possible elements. A "lives with" order sets out who the child lives with — this can be one person or two people (shared arrangements). A "spends time with" order sets out when and how the child has contact with the other parent or another person. A single order can contain both elements.

CAOs can be very detailed (specifying exact days, times, handover locations, holiday arrangements, and special occasions) or relatively brief (setting out a general framework and leaving the detail to the parents to agree). Most family judges prefer orders that give enough structure to prevent disputes while leaving room for the family to adapt as the child grows.

When Do You Need a Child Arrangements Order?

Many separated parents manage arrangements entirely by agreement, without any court order at all. This is perfectly valid and usually preferable — it is flexible, free, and avoids the formality and stress of court proceedings. A CAO is worth considering when:

• You and the other parent genuinely cannot reach agreement, and mediation has not resolved the dispute
• An existing informal or formal arrangement is repeatedly not being followed
• You are concerned about a child's safety or welfare in the other parent's care
• One parent is threatening to relocate with the child domestically or internationally
• There is a history of domestic abuse and you need the protection of a court order
• Third parties (grandparents, extended family) are being denied contact

Before You Apply: The MIAM Requirement

Before making most types of family court application, you are required by law to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM). This is a short meeting with an accredited mediator who explains whether mediation might help resolve your dispute without going to court. You are not obliged to proceed with mediation, but you must attend a MIAM (or qualify for an exemption) before your application will be accepted by the court.

Exemptions exist for domestic abuse, urgent situations involving risk of harm, active child protection proceedings, and several other circumstances. If you think you may qualify for an exemption, speak to a solicitor first — courts scrutinise exemption claims and a rejected exemption can delay your case.

For a full explanation of MIAMs, exemptions, and how mediation works, see our MIAM and Mediation Guide.

How to Apply: The C100 Form

The application form for a Child Arrangements Order is the C100. You can download it from GOV.UK or complete it online via the HMCTS online service. The form asks for details about the children, the other parties, any safety concerns (Section 5 of the form), and what order you are seeking.

If you have safety concerns — domestic abuse, drug or alcohol misuse, or other welfare issues — you will also need to complete a C1A form (Allegations of Harm and Domestic Violence). Courts take this seriously. Be factual and specific. The more clearly you can describe what happened, with dates and any supporting evidence, the more useful it is to the court.

The current court fee for a C100 application is £232. If you are on certain means-tested benefits or a low income, you may qualify for an fee remission (Help with Fees) using form EX160. There is no fee for a consent order — if both parties agree on arrangements, you can apply jointly for a court order to formalise the agreement.

What Happens After You Apply

Once the court receives your C100, the following stages typically follow — though timescales vary significantly by court and by the complexity of the case.

The Role of CAFCASS

CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) is an independent organisation that works exclusively in the family courts. Their job is to advise the court on what arrangements are in the child's best interests — not to take sides. Every case involving a child arrangements application gets CAFCASS involvement.

At the earliest stage, CAFCASS will complete a safeguarding letter based on checks with police and children's services, plus brief phone calls with each party. If the case is contested and complex, the court may commission a full Section 7 welfare report — a detailed written assessment that may include the CAFCASS officer meeting the children, observing contact, and interviewing both parents.

The Section 7 report carries significant weight with the court. It is not binding, but judges rarely depart substantially from a well-reasoned CAFCASS recommendation. If a Section 7 is ordered in your case, cooperating fully and providing factual, documented information to the CAFCASS officer is very important. For more on this, see our CAFCASS Section 7 Report Guide.

The Welfare Checklist

In any decision about a child's arrangements, the court's paramount consideration is the welfare of the child. Section 1(3) of the Children Act 1989 sets out the welfare checklist — the factors the court must consider:

There is also a no order principle: the court will only make an order if doing so is better for the child than making no order at all. This is why courts encourage agreement wherever possible and why a well-drafted parenting plan can sometimes resolve a case before it reaches a final hearing.

How Documentation Helps Your Case

Courts deal with disputed facts every day. Both parents often tell genuinely different stories about the same events — and without a reliable record, the court has little to go on beyond witness credibility. Detailed, consistent documentation helps in several ways:

• Establishing patterns: A single incident may be dismissed as a misunderstanding. A consistent record of late collections, missed contact, or hostile messages over months tells a different story.
• Supporting or challenging allegations: If the other party makes allegations you dispute, a timestamped log of communications and events is your best evidence.
• CAFCASS interviews: The CAFCASS officer is likely to ask both parties for specific examples to support their positions. Having dated, detailed records means you are not relying on memory.
• Showing cooperation: A record that shows you consistently offering contact, responding to messages, and following agreed arrangements demonstrates the attitude the court wants to see from parents.

Larkling generates tamper-evident records of all communications and schedule events. Every message is timestamped and logged in a format that can be exported and referenced in legal proceedings without the other party being able to dispute when it was sent or received.

Varying or Enforcing a Child Arrangements Order

A CAO is not permanent. Either party can apply to the court to vary the order if circumstances change significantly — for example, if the child moves schools, a parent relocates, or a child's needs change as they get older. You will generally need to attempt mediation (or qualify for an exemption) before applying to vary.

If the other party is not following an existing CAO — failing to hand over the child, not returning them on time, or preventing agreed contact — the enforcement route is a C79 application. Courts take repeated non-compliance seriously. Sanctions range from a warning to a fine, unpaid work, or in serious cases, a transfer of the lives-with arrangement. Keep detailed records of every breach: date, time, what was supposed to happen, what actually happened, and any communications about it.

How Larkling Supports CAO Cases

Larkling was designed with family court proceedings in mind. Every message sent through the app is stored with an immutable timestamp. Every schedule change is logged. Every expense related to the children is tracked. When you need to produce evidence for a court, CAFCASS, or a solicitor, Larkling can generate a clean, dated record that shows what was agreed, what happened, and what was communicated — without needing to screenshot individual WhatsApp exchanges or rely on memory.

The app is built for all co-parenting families, including LGBTQ+ parents, kinship carers, and families with more than two parenting figures. You are not locked into a "mum and dad" framework. Add the people who matter to your child's life, set your own roles, and record what happens — however your family looks.

Further Resources

• GOV.UK — Child arrangements if you separate
• CAFCASS — Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service
• Family Mediation Council — Find an accredited mediator
• Resolution — Find a family law solicitor
• NSPCC — Child protection helpline: 0808 800 5000

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