Child Arrangements Orders in Cheshire: A Family Solicitor’s Guide to Child Custody
Written by Gavin Edmondson | 5 August 2025
Solicitor Advocate & Principal, Gavin Edmondson Solicitors
When parents split up, it's often their children who get caught in the middle. Deciding how and when children will see each of their parents is one of the most pressing concerns facing parents after separation. In most cases, it is recognised that children benefit from contact with both of their parents and maintaining close contact with them going forward is crucial for their well-being.
In many cases, parents come to a parenting agreement that works for everyone involved, either by working this out between themselves or with the help of a trusted family lawyer.
When agreement between the parties is not reached, the Courts can step in and decide what happens with their child/ren.
Child Arrangements Orders (CAOs) decide:
- Where your child lives
- When your child spends time with each of their parents
- What contact can take place (phone calls, FaceTime calls, etc), and when
As a Firm, we deal with child arrangements regularly, and it's one of our most requested services. Our clients often need the most help with the following two issues:
Specific Issue Orders
A Specific Issue Order is a type of Court order related to child arrangements, designed to resolve disagreements between parents on specific matters concerning a child's upbringing. It addresses particular questions that parents may have to deal with, such as the child's education, healthcare, religious upbringing and various other matters, when they cannot agree. Practical examples would be:
- Who will take the child to school?
- Which school will the child attend?
- What faith or religion will the child hold?
- Who is allowed to collect the child from school?
- Which Doctor's surgery will the child be registered at?
Prohibited Steps Orders (PSO)
A Prohibited Steps Order (PSO) is a Court order in England & Wales that restricts a person, usually a parent, from taking specific actions related to their child's upbringing, without first obtaining permission from the Court. It prevents someone from exercising parental responsibility in a particular way. Practical examples would be stopping a parent from doing the following:
- Relocating the child, either within the UK or overseas.
- Moving the child to a different school.
- Changing the child's surname
- Giving consent for a medical procedure
Concerned about child arrangements in Cheshire?
Speak with one of our family solicitors for free advice.
Book your no-obligation consultation by calling 01606 811700. You can also email us or fill out our quick online enquiry form, and we will get back to you promptly.
Gavin's advice:
Without overcomplicating the point, I find that many clients do not approach child arrangements cases in the way that the courts will approach such matters.
My general advice to almost every client I have ever seen is that you must act in the child's best interest. Relationship breakdown can often leave parents deeply hurt, and raw emotions can cloud the process of making applications to the Court. Personal feelings frequently interfere with how people approach the challenges of planning effective co-parenting. The courts will be swift to prevent parents from airing their grievances about each other in a court dispute.
The courts prefer not to intervene unless necessary – this is what is called the “No Order Principle”. They will do so when it is in the child's best interests, which is determined through a "welfare checklist". The Court will look at areas such as:
- The child's physical and emotional needs.
- The capability of each parent to provide for the child, which can include considerations of income stability.
- The parents' ability to provide a safe and effective routine and environment for the child.
A key point that often arises is the variety of parenting styles. For example, one parent may be stricter and the other may be more lenient. In such circumstances, it is unusual for the Court to favour one parenting style over the other. In many cases, it is acknowledged that people do have different approaches to raising their children.
As a rule of thumb, I would recommend the following to any parents who might be getting close to a court dispute or child arrangements:
- Keep a detailed diary of all the events that occur.
- Keep all communications with the other parent as neutral as possible, focusing entirely on your child's well-being.
Unless you have concerns about your ex-partner that directly relate to your child's well-being and safety, it is strongly recommended that you do not bring personal grievances between yourself and your ex-partner into family court proceedings that concern your children, as this type of conduct can generally damage your case.
Try to keep all communications with your ex-partner positive and constructive where possible.
How We Can Help
At Gavin Edmondson Solicitors, we offer free preliminary advice on child arrangements and, in some cases, free consultations with one of our specialist family lawyers. Although based in Cheshire, we clients throughout England and Wales via remote consultation, giving you access to the best legal advice, from the comfort of your own home. Please give us a call to see if we can help you.
Frequently Asked Questions
This largely depends on where you live but these types of case are heard in local Family Courts. We represent clients throughout England and Wales and represent them in Courts nationwide. If you are local to our Northwich office, however, we regularly represent clients before Chester County Court, Crewe County Court and St Helens County Court.
Yes, a child can live with both parents. Parents can decide this between themselves to have shared custody, providing they both agree on what’s best for the child. If there is a disagreement on who should have full-time care, the Court can issue a Child Arrangements Order. This will outline whether the child will be living with one parent or both, and whether this is on an equal or unequal basis. The Court will only make this order if it believes it is in the best interests of the child.
If your ex-partner is making it difficult for you to see your child, you can apply to Court for a Child Arrangements Order. You may reach an agreement on the time you spend with your child even after this application has been filed. However, if an agreement cannot be reached, the Court can issue an Order which outlines the amount of time your child is to spend with you.
The amount of time that the Court grants will depend on the unique circumstances of the family. This can then be reviewed over time, or with any changes in your circumstances. Generally, the Court believes it to be in the best interests of the child to have regular, meaningful contact with both parents. It is therefore rare for the Court to completely deny contact.
You may need to provide further applications if this Court Order is violated, in order to enforce it. This could result in fines, imprisonment, or transferring the child’s residence from one parent to the other.
The Court typically deems it suitable for the children to be gradually introduced to a new partner once the relationship becomes more established, especially when the children are very young. The Courts are familiar with parents having new partners, and generally view it as being in the best interests of the child if they are able to form a positive relationship with both parents’ new partners.
Situations where the Court may get involved with child maintenance include:
- If the child or one of the parents lives abroad.
- If there are school fees or other educational expenses to be covered.
The straightforward answer to this is yes, but your partner MUST act in the child’ best interests. If your partner is moving away from you and that will cut your contact time down, it is highly likely that the Court will not support your partner moving away.
If you think your partner is going to relocate, with your child, you must get in touch with us right away because if your partner has moved for any period of time, the argument will be advanced that the child is settled within the new home and that it would be damaging to return the child. Therefore in this situation, time is of the essence.
Also in this situation, we find that many clients suspect that one partner will move away because it has been raised in discussions. In these circumstances, if you think your partner is planning to move away, you should immediately seek an Prohibited Steps Order.
The No Order Principle is a fundamental principle used in UK Family Law. It’s key aim is to prevent the Courts from making Orders concerning a child, unless it believes this to be in the best interest of that child. The key consideration for the Court, when deciding whether to make an order or not, would be that of the child’s welfare.
The aim of this principle is to encourage parents to cooperate with each other and resolve their issues without the intervention of the Court. It is the Court’s way of recognising that children are generally best served when parents make decisions together, over what is best for their child.
About the author:
Gavin Edmondson
Solicitor Advocate & Principal of Gavin Edmondson Solicitors.
Specialist in divorce, matrimonial finance and high net worth divorce
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