Child arrangement order

[Looploop1]

Hello. My solicitor has filed my child arrangement order today. Could you give ideas on how long until my ex receives the paperwork and how long until initial hearing?

Mine took longer as the ex was abroad. I would assume a copy has gone via email to his solicitor and if your ex signs it and nothing to contest then that bit is straightforward. Ask your solicitor about court date. Mine was pretty quick once we had a response from the ex, within six weeks.

My ex filed the paperwork mid May, I found out in June, took a couple of weeks. We had the first hearing end of July. Second was mid Dec. Third was end of February, which then got extended to a second day at the end of March.

I was continually told that ours would be easy, and we should have only needed the July and Dec dates, however Ex's erratic behaviours, such as false accusations, and our polar opposite views, meant that it ended up being far more complicated than ny barrister initially thought.

hearing can take months depending on court backlog and urgency of case

Last year submitted application June, 4 weeks later got a court date which was 14 weeks after application was submitted. Second hearing was two months after that.

Is it imperative you rely on the courts? Is there DV? If you can work out yourself would be less costly and better for children?

I agree to a certain extent but if there is any kind of power imbalance or control issues a CAO can really help…holiday permission etc

Unfortunately yes. We have been through mediation and it’s still not working.