My family is involved in private law proceedings

This section of our website is for parents, carers, and other family members if you and your child’s other parent or carer cannot agree the best arrangements for looking after them. This could be because you live apart or you are separated or divorced or going through a divorce. 

We know that sorting out the practicalities can feel overwhelming, especially if one parent or carer applies to the family court to ask for its intervention to determine the arrangements for your child. These types of family court proceedings are known as ‘private law’ proceedings. 

This includes applications for a:

• Child arrangements order - This is an order which sets out where a child lives and who they spend time with.
• Specific Issue order – This is when parents or carers ask the court to decide on a specific issue relating to the child’s upbringing.
• Prohibited Steps order – This is an order which restricts the exercise of a part of a person’s parental responsibility which is specified in an order.

The role of Cafcass in private law proceedings is to provide a Family Court Adviser (FCA) to independently advise the family courts in England about the arrangements that are most likely to be in the children’s best interests and which promote their safety and wellbeing. In this section, we explain the role of your FCA in the process, and how they will help your child’s voice be heard in the proceedings.

Below is a short video to introduce our role in private law proceedings and to explain some of the important terms you will see within this section of our website. It has been produced in conjunction with our Family Forum.

Please select from the options below to explore our information for parents, carers and other family members on applications to the family court for child arrangement orders (private law proceedings).