Can you get a contact order by consent?

[Jiddle]

I've got a friend who's eligible for legal aid and thinks she has to go to court to sort out contact before legal aid runs out. However, she has a really bad relationship with the father and going to court will only make it worse.

She is now the NRP after her DD (12) said she wanted to live with dad. She agreed to a trial period for this and now accepts that if DD wants to carry on with it then there isn't really much point in contesting it in court. However, she's worried about contact because the dad has form for suddenly deciding he will not let her see DD at times previously arranged. So she wants to get a court order setting out contact arrangements before legal aid runs out.

It seems as though the father will agree to EOW and half the holidays, so could they just agree a draft order themselves and get it sealed by consent? Or would the "no order" principle mean that she can only get a contact order by making an application?

Probably the no order principle would apply. To do otherwise would be to open the floodgates.

Thanks Collaborate.

No reason why they couldn't have a written agreement between them, though, just to avoid any misunderstandings. They could just agree the contact, write it out and both sign. Although it wouldn't have the status of a legal document, it could be used as evidence of the agreement if the ex unilaterally changes it. It will be increasingly difficult for the ex to mess about with contact as DD gets older, anyway.

And if it all goes wrong she can self-rep and just pay court fees.