You have an Order from a court that the other parent doesn’t follow. What can you do?
If your Order is from a court in a different country, please see Enforcement of International Child Arrangements Orders (See below)
Once a court has made a Child Arrangements Order it sees the matter as closed. But from your point of view, it might not be, especially if the other parent is not complying with it. You might then feel that the order you received isn’t worth the paper its written on, because it hasn’t ended the issues which were your reason to go to court in the first place. But in most cases, there is something that can be done. This is where enforcement comes into the picture. The Order can be enforced by the same court that made it. If you want the court to do something about the breach, you must inform it and ask it to act. For that you will need to make a formal application . The Family Court will only make an Enforcement Order if it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a person has failed to comply with the order. If the other parent is not keeping to the terms of the Order, a court will not make an order for enforcement if it decides that there was a reasonable excuse. You should seek the advice of a solicitor as to what may be reasonable or unreasonable excuses.
There are a few different things that can be requested from the court where there has been a breach of a child arrangements order:
- an enforcement order
- variation of the existing child arrangements order
- referring parents to a co-parenting course
- an order for compensation or financial loss
- committal to prison
- a fine.
it is important to get the advice of a solicitor who will be able to advise you whether enforcement is the best option, or a different route (such as changing the existing Order) might be more useful.
Enforcement of International Child Arrangements Orders
We at Glaser Jones Law can also advise on how to enforce a child arrangements order from a court overseas, as well as how to enforce an order from England and Wales in a different country. This is a very complex area of law, and you will need the advice of an expert solicitor. There are many different factors which are relevant. These include the country in which the Order was made, how long ago the Order was made and what has happened in the interim, as well as where the child is living now.
If the country in which the order was made is a signatory to certain international agreements, including the Hague Convention, then it’s possible to have an international child arrangements order registered and recognised in this country. This can be very useful if the other parent is not complying with the terms of the order. If you have already come to an agreement or been to court in another country, you wouldn’t want to go through the process again to get an Order in this country, with the expense and time involved. Where it can be done, it’s generally better to get the foreign order recognised and registered here, so it can be enforced.
Under the Hague Convention, it’s possible to apply to the court in this country that an international order be registered and recognised. This means that the order can then be enforced here.
We will explore all the options applicable to your case with you. In some cases, it will be necessary to apply to the court here for a new Child Arrangements Order, perhaps because the order from the other country doesn’t make any arrangements for international contact with your child.
For an immediate answer : Shlomit Glaser 02079937173
