What happens if there is a dispute about a child, and it cannot be sorted out through mediation or between solicitors?
The first stage is for an application to be made on a standard form giving brief details about the background.
Most applicants will, before issuing any court application, have to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting or a MIAM. MIAMs are "options" meetings designed to give you information about all the options available to you to resolve family disputes, for example, mediation, collaborative law, solicitor negotiation and litigation. A mediator will talk through the options with you and you will be able to discuss what will suit your family situation best. The mediator will also consider whether you and your partner are suitable for mediation and, if not, the mediator will sign a form FM1 that then enables you to issue court proceedings if you wish to do so. It is not necessary for you and the other person to attend a initial meeting together, although you may do so if you wish to. If you both decide that you would like to mediate after you have found out about it, then meetings usually take place with both of you and the mediator together. For more information see our Family Mediation section.
What happens if there is a dispute about a child, and it cannot be sorted out by other means?
The first stage is for an application to be made on a standard form giving brief details about the background. The court will make a date for a First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment (FHDRA) and this is usually about four weeks after the application has been issued (unless it is an urgent application). Both you and the other parent will have to attend court. The children do not need to come to court as well unless the court directly tells you to bring the children with you. Prior to this hearing, an officer from CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory Service) will contact you and the other parent to carry out safeguarding enquiries by telephone as well as check police and local authority records. CAFCASS will not discuss any other aspect of the case with either of you at this stage and will report the results of their checks to the court.
The judge at the FHDRA is likely to sit with a CAFCASS officer and also a mediator and he or she will talk to you, the other parent and any legal advisors you may have to see if some compromise can be found. If no compromise can be reached, the judge will make directions to progress the case, which may include a report by CAFCASS and perhaps expert evidence about the health or state of mind of either of you or the children. The judge will also fix a date for a final hearing at which the matter will be decided, if it cannot be settled before. If a CAFCASS officer is asked to prepare a report, then he or she will arrange to meet you and the other parent separately, and sometimes with the children, before preparing the report.
At the final hearing, the judge will hear evidence from you and the other parent and from any experts, including the CAFCASS officer who wrote any report (which is likely to be very influential). If the children are old enough, they will be asked to make representations to the court although the court does not have to agree to what the children want. After hearing from everyone involved, the judge will make a final order determining the dispute and can attach conditions as he or she sees fit.
The judge can also make interim orders about the children to regulate arrangements until the final hearing, if those can be agreed between the parents. Otherwise, if the interim arrangements are not agreed, the Judge is likely to encourage the parents to discuss and agree the interim arrangements or otherwise fix a a further interim hearing to determine the interim arrangements.