Contact and Residence Orders

Contact Orders

• Applying for a Contact Order
• The Legal-Zone Contact Order Application Guide
• The Application Preparation Service.
• Non Compliance with a Contact Order.

Residence orders

• The Legal-Zone Residence Order Application Guide
• The Application Preparation Service.

Contact orders say who the person looking after the child must let the child see, stay with or receive messages from (letters, telephone calls etc ).

When parents are separated or divorced, and cannot agree between themselves the arrangements for the person not living with the children to see the children then an Application may have to be made to the Court for a Contact Order. The Contact Order will specify the amount and type of contact that the resident parent must allow the non-resident parent .

There is a strong presumption that contact with both parents is in a child's best interest and in the absence of exceptional circumstances the court will make a Contact Order to ensure that contact takes place. The Contact Order can include conditions specifying where and how often contact should take place. It may also specify the type of contact, for example,staying contact, visiting, telephoning or writing letters.

A Contact Order can also be made to allow contact between the child and, other relatives or friends such as grandparents. The leave of the Court must however be obtained before non-parents can apply for a Contact Order.

Applying for a Contact Order

If despite every effort on your part, it has not been possible to agree regular and meaningful contact arrangements you should not delay in applying to the Court for a Contact Order. It need not be difficult or expensive and in most cases there is no need to be represented by solicitors or barristers.

Legal-Zone have a Guide available for download with all the help and information needed for you to make the application yourself. Alternatively we can prepare the application for you and be on hand throughout to advise..

The Legal-Zone Contact Order Application Guide

The Pack costs £19.99 and is available for immediate download. It provides comprehensive information and guidance for a Litigant in Person to apply to either the County Court or a Family Proceedings Court for a Contact Order together with all necessary forms. A completed example of the prescribed application form is included together with specimen clauses for inclusion.

Sections deal with:

• The Parties to an application
• Who can apply
• Choice of Court
• The forms
• Completing the forms
• Issuing your application
• Court fees
• Service
• The first directions appointment
• CAFCASS
• Contested Proceedings

The price also includes email or telephone advice on your application from an experienced family lawyer .

The Application Preparation Service.

Alternatively our lawyers will prepare your contact application and advise you on your case for a fixed fee of £125. You will be assigned a qualified family lawyer who will have at least 20 years of experience of dealing with cases concerning children and who will be available to advise and guide throughout.

This how it works:

• Click the button below and complete the online questionnaire with the basic information our lawyers will require.
• Make payment and you will receive your complimentary copy of ‘The Children Dispute Warchest’ and guide to the Court procedure.
• You will be assigned your own personal lawyer who will confirm his instructions and prepare a draft application from the information provided.
• Your lawyer will email a draft of the application to you for approval and arrange a telephone conference to discuss, make any amendments and advise you fully on the applicable law, procedure, tactics, and merits of your application.
• Once the details of your Application are agreed we will send you the necessary paperwork for issuing at Court with necessary instructions.
• Your lawyer will remain available to answer any questions arising.

Non Compliance with a Contact Order.


Where a mother constantly obstructs contact the Court may attach a Penal Notice to the Contact Order which will warn her that non-compliance with an Order of the Court may result in imprisonment. Where there is evidence that a mother could ignore a Contact Order. a father should consider whether it is in the child's best interest for him to seek a Residence Order with generous Contact to the mother.

Residence orders


If parents cannot agree on where a child is to live after a seperation or divorce a Court can decide matters and make a Residence Order in favour of one or other of the parents.TheResidence (Order (sometimes referred to as Custody) decides where a child will live for most of his or her time but does not otherwise effect the parent's parental. responsibility.

When a Residence Order is made, the child will live with that parent, and usually a Contact Order will be made at the same time to set out the contact arrangements with the other parent. Joint Residence Orders can be made and will specify how much time the child will live with each parent.

Residence Orders are not restricted to a child’s parents and applications for Residence Orders can be made by grandparents or relatives although the leave of the Court must first be obtained.

Residence Orders can also be made in favour of more than one person and thus a father and a stepmother can jointly apply for a Residence Order.

A child’s opinion about where they want to live is likely to be a consideration of the Court when asked to make a Residence Order-especially if the child is old enough to have full understanding-but will not be conclusive as it is for the Court to decide what is in the child’s best interest.
When parents are able to agree on Residence and with whom their child should live, a Residence order will not usually be made. This is in accordance with the 'no order' presumption within the Children Act that no Order is made where there is agreement between parents. It is not possible therefore on divorce to include in a 'consent' order what will be with a child's residence.

The parent with a Residence Order will make the general day to day decisions concerning the upbringing of the child. These should be exercised without interference from the non-resident parent. The decisions will include decisions concerning how the household will function and the child’s daily routine. If the other parent has Parental Responsibility, he or she is entitled to have a say in the major decisions concerning the upbringing of the child, such as the school to be attended and medical care.

The Legal-Zone Residence Order Application Guide


When parents are unable to agree between themselves where and with whom their children should live, and it is necessary to apply to the Court, it is essential that the application should properly address the law and essential principles which the judge will apply to decide matters. This can require a detailed knowledge of the applicable law and decided cases.
We have available a DIY Residence Order Application Guide which contains all the information and documents needed to make the application yourself.

The Pack is available for immediate download and costs £19.99.

It contains:
• The prescribed Application Form for a Residence Order.
• Guidance on completing the Application Form.
• A guide to how the Application will be dealt with by the Court.

The Application Preparation Service.


Our family lawyers have over 20 years experience of dealing with disputes over children and can assist with your application for only £125. For this fixed fee you will be assigned a personal lawyer who will prepare your application and guide and advise you on the application.

This is how it works:


• Click the button below and complete the online questionnaire with the basic information our lawyers will require and make payment through our secure server.
• You will be assigned your own personal lawyer who will confirm his instructions and prepare a draft application from the information provided.
• Your lawyer will email a draft of the application to you for approval and arrange a telephone conference to discuss, make any amendments and advise you fully on the applicable law, procedure, tactics, and merits of your application.
• Once the details of your Application are agreed we will send you the necessary paperwork for issuing at Court with necessary instructions.
• Your lawyer will remain available to answer any questions arising.

In addition, when instructed, we will send you a complimentary copy of our acclaimed e-book ‘The Children Dispute Warchest’ and a guide to the procedure the Court will adopt to resolve the dispute.

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