Contact Refused: How to Enforce a Child Arrangements Order

An Order Is Not a Request

A child arrangements order made by the family court is a legally binding order. Breaching it without good reason is a contempt of court. Many parents -- usually the non-resident parent -- discover that orders are made but not enforced, and conclude that the family court is toothless. This is wrong. The court has significant enforcement powers. The problem is that they must be invoked, and the burden of doing so falls on the parent whose contact is being refused.

Document Every Breach

Before you can enforce, you must be able to prove. Keep a detailed contact log recording every occasion on which contact was refused or frustrated: the date, what the order required, what actually happened, any communication from the other parent, and any impact on the children. This log is your evidence. Without it, you are relying on your word against theirs.

Keep copies of all communications -- texts, WhatsApp, emails -- in which the other parent refuses, cancels, or makes contact difficult. These are exhibits to your enforcement application.

The C79 Application

To enforce a child arrangements order, you apply to the court using Form C79. There is a court fee (currently £215, though this may be reduced or waived on financial grounds). The C79 asks you to set out the terms of the existing order, the specific breaches, and what you are asking the court to do.

The enforcement application is listed for a hearing, usually within four to six weeks. Serve the application on the other parent. At the hearing, the judge considers the evidence of breach and the reasons offered by the other parent. A breach is proved if the court is satisfied on the balance of probabilities -- the civil standard.

The Remedies Available

If breach is established, the court has a range of remedies. At the lower end, the judge may make further directions, add a penal notice to the order (making clear that future breach may result in committal), or order unpaid work or a parenting programme. These are the most common outcomes on a first enforcement application.

More serious remedies include a fine and, in the most serious cases, committal to prison for contempt of court. Committal is rarely ordered but it is not theoretical -- courts have committed parents who persistently refuse to comply with orders. The threat is real and the other parent needs to understand that.

Transfer of residence -- changing the order so that the children live with the parent whose contact was refused -- is ordered in cases of serious, persistent, and deliberate alienation. It is the most powerful remedy available and courts are increasingly willing to use it where the alienating behaviour has caused significant harm to the children.

Adding a Penal Notice

A penal notice is a formal warning attached to a court order that states: "If you disobey this order you may be held in contempt of court and may be imprisoned, fined, or have your assets seized." You can apply for a penal notice to be added to an existing order even without a full enforcement hearing. Once a penal notice is attached, the stakes change significantly. Many parents who are casually breaching an order without a penal notice change their behaviour immediately when one is added.

The CAFCASS Monitoring Direction

In cases of persistent breach, the court can direct CAFCASS to monitor compliance and report back. This keeps the case active and puts the breaching parent on notice that their conduct is being observed and reported to the court. It is a useful intermediate step between a first enforcement application and more serious remedies.