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By Jess 8th September 2026 in Child Arrangements

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If you have reached the point where you need to apply for a child arrangements order, you have probably already tried everything else. The messages have stopped working. The handovers keep changing at short notice. Or you simply cannot get a straight answer about when you will next see your child.

The court process is not designed to be intimidating, but it does have rules, and getting one of them wrong is the most common reason applications come back unissued. A missing mediator signature or a blank section on the form can add weeks before your case has even started. If you want the broader context first, our guide to arrangements after divorce covers the wider picture.

This guide is for the practical bit. It takes you through each step, in order, with the forms, the fees and the timings you can expect. At Family Law Service, we complete these applications for parents every week, so we have written it the way we would explain it on the phone.

What Is a Child Arrangements Order?

A child arrangements order is a legally binding order made under section 8 of the Children Act 1989. It answers two practical questions:

• Who the child lives with: often called a “lives with” order, and it can name both parents in a shared arrangement
• When the child spends time with the other parent: a “spends time with” order, covering term time, weekends, holidays and indirect contact such as video calls

The words “custody” and “access” left family law in 1991. If a solicitor or a website still uses them, they are describing a system that no longer exists.

The same form, the C100, is also used for two other orders. A prohibited steps order stops the other parent doing something specific, such as moving your child abroad or changing their surname. A specific issue order asks the court to settle one particular question, such as which school your child attends. You can apply for more than one on the same form.

Before You Apply for a Child Arrangements Order: The MIAM

Attending a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting is a legal requirement before most C100 applications, under the Children and Families Act 2014 and Practice Direction 3A. It is a private meeting with an accredited family mediator, not a joint session with your ex, and it lasts at least 45 minutes. If you are unsure what happens in one, this guide explains what a MIAM involves in full.

Two things matter here. First, only a mediator accredited by the Family Mediation Council can sign your form. A solicitor, a counsellor or a barrister cannot, unless they also hold mediation accreditation. Second, the mediator signs the relevant section of the C100 itself, so you need that signed page before you submit.

When You Do Not Need a MIAM

There are recognised exemptions. The most commonly used are evidenced domestic abuse, child protection concerns where a local authority is involved, genuine urgency where delay would cause a risk to the child, and situations where you cannot reasonably access a mediator. If you claim an exemption, you tick the relevant box on the form and, in most cases, you must send the supporting evidence with your application. Courts apply this strictly. An exemption claimed without evidence is often rejected, and you are then sent back to attend a MIAM anyway.

How to Apply for a Child Arrangements Order: Step by Step

Step 1: Check that you can apply

Parents with parental responsibility, guardians and anyone named in an existing order can apply as of right. Step-parents, grandparents and other relatives usually need the court’s permission first, which is requested in the relevant section of the same form. If your child has lived with you for at least three years, you can generally apply without permission.

Step 2: Attend your MIAM and keep the signed page

Book the MIAM before you fill in anything else, because the mediator’s details and signature belong on the form. Keep the original safe, and take it with you to your first hearing. If mediation was tried and did not work, say so plainly rather than at length. Our guide on when mediation is not the right route may help you word it.

Step 3: Complete Form C100

Always download the current version, which is C100 (06.26) at the time of writing, from the GOV.UK C100 page. An older version will be returned. The form asks for your details, the other parent’s details, each child’s details, any previous or ongoing proceedings, whether you have safeguarding concerns, and exactly what you are asking the court to order.

Step 4: Add Form C1A if you are raising concerns about harm

If you tick yes to any of the risk questions on the C100, covering domestic abuse, child abuse, abduction, or drug, alcohol or substance misuse, you must also complete the C1A. This is the form where you set out what happened, when, and what protective steps you are asking for. It is not an optional extra. Ticking yes without filing a C1A is one of the fastest ways to have your bundle sent back.

Step 5: Sort out the court fee

The fee to apply for a child arrangements order is £270, following the fee rise that took effect on 13 July 2026 (MoJ, as of July 2026). If you are on a low income or receive certain benefits, apply for Help with Fees first, then put the reference number in the box at the top of the C100. Do it in that order. Applying for the remission afterwards causes needless delay.

Step 6: Submit the application

Applying online through the HMCTS service is usually quicker and gives you a digital record of everything you have sent. If you apply by post, send the original plus three copies of every document to the family court that covers your child’s area. Keep a full copy for yourself.

Step 7: The court issues and serves your application

Once issued, your case gets a number, the other parent is served as respondent, and the file is sent to Cafcass. From that point the timetable is largely out of your hands, which is exactly why the preparation before it matters so much.

The C100 Sections That Trip People Up

The form is long, but only a handful of sections cause real problems. These are the ones we correct most often:

• “What order are you applying for?”: be specific. “A lives with order in my favour and alternate weekends plus one midweek overnight with the respondent” is far more useful than “contact with my children”.
• Permission to apply: if you are a parent, you almost certainly do not need it. Ticking yes by mistake creates an extra hurdle for no reason.
• Previous proceedings: list them, including anything in another court area. Leaving them out looks like concealment even when it is an oversight.
• The risk questions: answer honestly, and if you tick yes, file the C1A. Do not raise serious allegations informally in a covering letter instead.
• Blank boxes: the form says you must answer every question. If you genuinely do not know something, write that you do not know rather than leaving it empty.

What Happens After You Apply

Most parents expect a long wait and nothing else. In practice a fair amount happens in the background before you get anywhere near a judge.

The Cafcass call matters more than most people realise, because the safeguarding letter is often the first thing the judge reads about your family. Parents who have thought about what they want to say tend to come across far better, which is why we offer a Cafcass prep meeting, and a combined C100 and Cafcass package if you want both handled together.

What It Costs to Apply for a Child Arrangements Order

The court fee of £270 is fixed. What varies enormously is what you spend around it. A solicitor running the case from start to finish through a contested application can run into several thousand pounds. Doing it entirely alone costs nothing beyond the fee, but carries the risk Daniel ran into.

Fixed-fee help sits between the two. You pay a set amount for the specific piece you need, which is usually quicker and considerably less expensive than instructing a solicitor to run the whole matter. Depending on where you are, that might be the C100 itself, an hour of legal advice on children matters, a position statement before a hearing, or a court prep meeting if you are representing yourself.

On funding, two separate things are worth checking. Legal aid for family mediation is means-tested, so if you meet the financial criteria your MIAM and mediation sessions are free to you, whether or not there has been abuse. Legal aid for a solicitor is a different scheme, withdrawn for most private family cases in April 2013 but still available to victims of domestic abuse and in child safety cases, where you can provide evidence and you also pass the means test. You can check both at gov.uk/check-legal-aid.

Frequently Asked Questions