Enforcing Orders About Children

Obtaining contact orders can be stressful enough; not only on parents but also on the children at the centre of the dispute… so what happens when parents do not comply with the contact order?

One option for the Court is to penalise the offending parent by ordering them to pay costs. Alternatively, if contact orders are persistently breached then ultimately you can apply (or threaten to apply) for the parent breaching the order to be sent to prison.

The apparent problem with these powers is that, in what are already sensitive cases, contempt proceedings add further stress and anxiety to the children involved, especially if they result in a parent being imprisoned.

Another option is to considering changing residence of the children to the parent seeking to have contact with the child, but again this could upset the children.

Legislation introduced in 2008 gave the Court further (and more sensitive) powers to help settle disputes and enforce contact orders. These include the ability to set “Contact Activity Directions” or “Contact Activity Conditions”. Examples of these directions/conditions include requiring parents to attend classes or meetings with counsellors, or having contact monitored by a Court appointed officer. Where contact orders have been breached (without good reason) the Court can impose unpaid work, or other forms of financial penalty against the offending parent.

All contact orders issued by the Court come complete with a notice warning parents of the possible consequences of breaching the order.