Separated families, child arrangements & coronavirus

• Explains the law relating to Child Arrangement Orders during the pandemic.
• Considers the law where parents agree on contact, and where they don’t.
• Makes practical suggestions for separated parents during the outbreak.

COVID-19 poses huge challenges to all families, but particularly for separated parents working out how best to co-parent during a pandemic.

Many children whose parents are separated spend time with each parent, whether that is a few hours on weekends, or by dividing their time equally across two households. The old terms ‘contact’ and ‘residence’ have been replaced with ‘child arrangements’, and an order setting out which time the child is to spend with each parent is a ‘Child Arrangements Order’ (CAO). Many separated parents do not have a court order setting out the arrangements for their children, where they have been able to reach agreement on the arrangements without court assistance.

Can existing arrangements continue?

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions)