If your ex-partner breaches a child arrangements order, you can apply to the court to enforce it, but you'll usually need to try resolving things directly or through mediation first.
If your ex-partner is not following a child arrangements order, you can apply to the court for an enforcement order using form C79. The court has to be satisfied, beyond reasonable doubt, that they breached the order without a reasonable excuse. Before applying, it's worth trying to resolve things directly or through mediation, both because courts expect this and because it's often faster than a fresh application.
A breach happens when your ex-partner doesn't do what the order says — some examples include:
Occasional, minor breaches — a child being unwell, a traffic delay, a one-off missed handover with a reasonable excuse — are unlikely to succeed as an enforcement application. Courts expect a degree of pragmatism between separated parents and are unlikely to be sympathetic to an application over a single minor incident. What matters is a pattern: repeated or deliberate non-compliance without good reason.
If informal steps don't resolve things and the pattern continues, you can move to a formal enforcement application.
There is no requirement to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) before an enforcement application specifically, unlike most first applications for a child arrangements order.
The court has a range of powers under the enforcement provisions in the Children Act 1989, and will primarily consider what's in the children's best interests when deciding what to order. Options include:
You can read more on GOV.UK about changing or enforcing a child arrangements order.
Not routinely. Breaching a child arrangements order is a civil matter, not a criminal one, so the police generally won't enforce it directly. The exception is where the order has a "penal notice" attached — a specific warning on the order stating the person could be imprisoned for breaching it — and even then, in practice you would usually still need to go back to court to report the breach rather than expecting immediate police action. If you believe your child is at immediate risk of harm or abduction, that is a different, urgent situation and you should contact the police straight away.
The court takes this seriously. If your ex-partner raises a reasonable excuse — for example, a genuine safeguarding concern about a child's welfare during contact — the court will weigh this carefully rather than automatically enforcing the order. This is one reason enforcement applications can sometimes uncover a wider dispute that needs its own resolution, including, in some cases, a fact-finding hearing to establish what actually happened.
Working out whether what's happening in your case is a minor, forgivable breach or a genuine pattern worth taking to court is genuinely hard to judge alone. Access to Justice is built for exactly this — it helps you understand what's happening at each stage and prepare your evidence clearly. Try it free.
How much does it cost to apply for an enforcement order?
There is a court fee for filing form C79, which is reviewed periodically — check the current fee on GOV.UK. You may be eligible for a fee reduction depending on your income. Before applying, courts expect you to have tried to resolve things directly or through mediation, so factor that step in too.
Can I apply for enforcement if we only ever had an informal agreement, not a court order?
No. Enforcement action can only be taken where there is a formal child arrangements order in place. An informal parenting plan or verbal agreement cannot be enforced through this process. If you don't yet have an order, you would first need to apply to the court for one before any enforcement route becomes available.
What if my ex says they didn't hand the children over because the child refused to go?
This can be relevant to whether they had a reasonable excuse, but the court will look closely at the circumstances — including whether the refusal was genuinely the child's own view or something the resident parent may have influenced. The court has to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the order was breached without a reasonable excuse.
Can enforcement proceedings lead to the children's living arrangements being changed?
Yes, in cases of persistent breach, the court can vary the existing order, including in serious cases changing who the child primarily lives with, though this is a significant step not taken lightly. When deciding what to do about a breach, the court's primary consideration is what is in the children's best interests.
Do I need a solicitor to apply for an enforcement order?
No, you can complete and file form C79 yourself as a litigant in person, though understanding what counts as sufficient evidence of a breach is worth getting right before you apply. Keeping a clear, dated record of every breach — what was supposed to happen, what actually happened, and any messages about it — makes your application far stronger.
Is there a time limit on applying for enforcement after a breach?
There's no fixed statutory time limit, but applying promptly, with a clear and dated record, makes your case far stronger than trying to reconstruct events long after they happened. Courts are also more sympathetic to an application that shows a genuine recent pattern of non-compliance than to one raised over a single old incident.
What happens if the enforcement order is breached too?
You can return to court again. Repeated non-compliance, even after an enforcement order has already been made, is taken more seriously and can lead to stronger consequences, including consideration of changing the arrangement itself. The court's powers range from a warning, through unpaid work of between 40 and 200 hours, to committal to prison in the clearest and most persistent cases.
This article provides legal information about enforcing a child arrangements order in England and Wales. It does not constitute legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, speak to a qualified solicitor.
You don't have to work this out alone. Family Court Assistant helps you understand your family court case, organise your information and work out what you need to do next, and every time you come back it remembers where you're up to.