Court Welfare Officer
You may hear this expression mentioned, but the role played by a Court Welfare Officer in a Children Act case is now played by a CAFCASS officer.
Blog
Removing a child from the jurisdiction
In this context, ‘the jurisdiction’ means ‘England and Wales’. As with changing a child’s name, the consent is required of any other person with parental responsibility, failing which the court will make the decision if an application is made. Where a residence order is in force, the person who has the benefit of the residence
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Changing a child’s surname
Where a child’s parents are unmarried and both have parental responsibility, neither parent is entitled to change the child’s surname without consulting the other. If they cannot agree, an application can be made to the court, the exact procedure depending on whether or not there is a residence order in force.
Prohibited Steps Order
An order preventing a parent from doing something with regard to a child, for example continuing a particular course of medical treatment.
Specific Issue Order
If the parents of a child cannot agree on an aspect of the child’s upbringing, either parent may apply to the court for a specific issue order. There is no official definition of what constitutes a specific issue. Common examples are: whether or not a child should undergo a particular medical procedure; which school a
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Residence
A residence order is an order of the court saying who a child is to live with. Used to be called ‘custody’.
Contact
A child seeing the parent that they don’t live with any more. Used to be called ‘access’ until the Children Act came into force in 1991 (which is presumably why some lawyers use the dreadful expression ‘contact to’ instead of the correct ‘contact with’).
Consent orders – Children
The court can make a consent order regarding a child, for example a residence order or a contact order. Before the court considers whether the wording of the draft order is acceptable, it has to consider whether it is better for the child to make an order than to make no order at all. Only
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Court orders – Financial
The financial arrangements on divorce are usually settled by agreement. It is important to get the court to make an order incorporating the terms of the agreement – an ‘ancillary relief order by consent’. The purpose is to achieve certainty, because either party to a marriage can make a financial claim against the other at any time after the
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Consent order
A court order can be made by consent. The parties submit an agreed draft order. The judge considers it and, if (s)he is satisfied that (s)he has the legal power to make such an order and that the order is fair, (s)he makes the order.