How to Sort out Summer Holiday Contact Arrangements
If you have not yet decided who the children will be staying with over the UK summer holidays, our Divorce and Family Law Solicitors in London can provide you with specialist children's law advice.
Summer holiday contact disputes
Summer holiday contact disputes tend to fall into five categories:
- One parent won't share childcare responsibilities during the holidays.
- One parent is insisting that the children spend half the summer holidays with them.
- A parent wants to take the children overseas on holiday, but the other parent objects.
- A parent wants to take their child on holiday for a fortnight, but the other parent thinks the child is too young to spend a fortnight away from them.
- A parent wants regular summer holiday contact, but as they are working, plans to leave the children with grandparents or their new partner.
Whatever the nature of your summer holiday contact dispute, it is important to talk to a Family Law Solicitor about how best to resolve the dispute.
Resolving summer holiday contact disputes
There are several ways to resolve summer holiday contact disputes:
- Solicitor negotiations.
- Roundtable meetings.
- Family mediation.
- Arbitration.
- Court proceedings for a child arrangement order, holiday order, specific issue order or prohibited steps order.
A Children and Childcare Arrangements Solicitor in London can outline the pros and cons of each option and recommend the best option depending on your family situation. For example:
- A prohibited steps order application may be appropriate if you fear your ex-partner will take your child overseas on holiday and will not return your child to the UK at the conclusion of the holiday.
- A solicitor’s letter or negotiations may resolve a minor dispute over specific contact dates.
There are court backlogs and, therefore, delays in getting court hearing dates, so as soon as your ex-partner raises a problem, it is best to take specialist children's law advice to work out a solution before the start of the school summer holidays.
Who gets the children during the summer holidays?
If parents cannot agree on how contact is arranged over the summer hols, either parent can apply to court for a children law court order. The court will make an order based on its assessment of what contact arrangements are in your child’s best interests after the judge has considered all the factors in the welfare checklist. This is a statutory list of matters a judge should weigh up before making a child arrangement order, holiday order, specific issue order or prohibited steps order.
Although the welfare checklist in Section 1 of the Children Act 1989 must be considered in children law court proceedings, the judge makes their decision based on your child’s best interests.
The welfare checklist and summer holiday contact
The welfare checklist requires family court judges to consider:
- The ascertainable wishes and feelings of your child, considered in the light of their age and understanding.
- Your child’s physical, emotional and educational needs.
- The likely effect on your child of any change in their circumstances.
- Your child’s age, sex, background and any characteristics which the court considers relevant, such as their religion or culture.
- Any harm which your child has suffered or is at risk of suffering.
- How capable each of the parents, and any other person in relation to whom the court considers the question to be relevant, is of meeting your child’s needs.
- The range of powers available to the court under the Children Act.
Although the welfare checklist factors do not change, court decisions are based on your child's needs, so that similar family situations may result in different summer holiday contact arrangements. For example, if a child has special educational needs, or is confident and outgoing, or lives in a family where, for cultural reasons, it is usual to spend significant periods overseas to gain an understanding of the family heritage, provided it is safe to do so.
Legal advice on separated parents' summer holiday contact with children
At OTS Solicitors, our specialist family lawyers understand the frustration parents feel when negotiating summer holiday contact. Our experienced team can help you with:
- Negotiating holiday contact with your ex-partner or their lawyer.
- Securing a holiday order so you can take your child abroad on holiday.
- Obtaining a child arrangement order to regularise living and contact arrangements.
- Securing a prohibited steps order to stop your child from being taken abroad on holiday.
- Providing children law legal advice and mediation support before and in between family mediation sessions to resolve summer holiday contact disputes.
Frequently Asked Questions on Summer Holiday Contact
Will I get half the summer holidays?
Potentially, you may be able to negotiate or get a court order that says your child should spend half of their school holidays with you. The arrangements will depend on your family circumstances and the needs of your child, so it's best to take legal advice to help you understand the likelihood of obtaining contact during half of the holidays.
Can I force my ex to have contact during the summer holidays?
When you are a full-time working parent, it can be hard and expensive to find childcare during the long summer holidays. You may resent having to take your annual leave and parental leave to cover holiday childcare while your ex is a helicopter parent who is only willing to have contact on their terms. Unfortunately, if your ex won't share childcare over the summer holidays, you cannot obtain an order requiring them to do so.
Do I need an order to take my child abroad on holiday?
You will need a holiday order to take your child overseas if you do not have the other parent’s agreement (and anyone else with parental responsibility for your child) or if you do not have a child arrangement order that says your child lives with you. With a child arrangement order, you are only allowed to take a child abroad for up to four weeks. If you are unsure if your child arrangement order allows you to take your child on holiday without needing a holiday order, our specialist Family Law Solicitors in London can advise and either help you secure your ex-partner’s agreement in writing to the holiday or secure a holiday order.
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