Child arrangements order

[Prinny92]

Hi. I’ve had a CAO with my ex for around 6 years, changed a few times over the years, last time was around 4 years ago. Over the past 18months his relationship with the kids has totally disappeared due to him been verbally and emotionally abusive (we have text messages as proof) 14yo hasn’t seen him since Father’s Day 2021 and 11 yo hasn’t seen him since January 2022. I’ve seen online that you can get an order ended/discharged by the court. Just wondering if anyone has any experience in this? Do I need to go to court? Could a mediator help with this? What’s the threshold requirements? Is it worth it? Daughters mental health is struggling because of her dad so I think not having this threat hanging over her would help massively, school are aware and are amazing with their support. If you need any further information please do ask. And thank you for reading all of this!

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Prinny92

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser. I am sorry to hear that you and your family are having difficulties in relation to your children’s contact with their father and that this is impacting on your daughter’s wellbeing.

We advise families who have / or need social work involvement with their child/ren. You don’t mention that there is a social worker so I am guessing that there is not. Your query in relation to whether you can apply to end a Child Arrangement Order is a private law matter which is outside our remit. Therefore any advice I can provide is limited. It is possible to apply to the court to end a CAO. As you suggest you should try mediation first but if that is unsuccessful you can apply to the court.

The following services do provide the area of legal advice that you are seeking so I hope they will be able to provide you with more comprehensive advice.

Child Law Advice – this link will take you to their website information about applying to end a CAO, however, you can ring to talk it through in more details and get further advice about the process.

Rights of Women can also provide advice and also have specialist knowledge of domestic violence and how it impacts in relation to contact and family law matters.

If you do decide to apply to end the court order and are representing yourself you may find Support through Court helpful. They do not provide legal advice but may be able to help you with the practical, procedural, and emotional issues during the court process.

Young Minds may be useful to know about too.

I hope this helps. If you do have a query which relates to Children’s Services involvement please do post again or call our freephone advice line, open Mon – Fri and 9.30 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.

Best wishes

Suzie