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Child Arrangements in the time of COVID

Child arrangement

Managing child arrangements is difficult enough for separated parents, but now COVID19 adds a major complication to the mix. What to do during lockdowns, tier restrictions and self-isolation is a minefield for parents trying to follow the rules but also an opportunity for parents not fully committed to an existing arrangement or order to try and use the situation to their advantage.

The House of Commons published a briefing paper in late November to try and cut through the confusion. The guidance answers some questions Coventry solicitors are often asked:

  1. Can children move between the homes of two separated parents?
  • during lockdown, continuing arrangements for a child to see each parent is an exception to the requirement to stay at home or to stay local
  • when self-isolating there is no exception for a child to visit a parent – so a child must isolate with the parent they live with, or (in a shared care arrangement) the parent they are living with when told to self-isolate, and cannot visit or be visited by the other parent. Contact should be maintained by remote means such as phone call or facetime
  1. What if following a court order means breaking coronavirus rules or putting a child or other person at risk?
  • Parents are free to agree to vary the terms of an order temporarily to more practical arrangements in the circumstances; on the basis that they will return to the terms ordered once the health crisis is over unless they agree otherwise
  • If one parent is worried about the risks of keeping to an order they can change the arrangements but must do everything possible to maintain children’s relationship with the other parent, including additional telephone and facetime contact
  • A parent can only go against the terms of an order if they have “reasonable excuse”, for example if a parent is unable to deliver a child to the other parent for contact because they are self-isolating, or genuinely believes the other parent is not complying with restrictions and would expose the child to an increased risk of infection.

Generally, parents are expected to act “reasonably and sensibly”, and will face criticism in court and (where there is an existing order) possible punishment such as fines or unpaid work requirements if they use the health crisis as a way of frustrating contact arrangements without reasonable excuse.