There are mainly four types of court orders that exist concerning children in the United Kingdom. These orders include Special Guardianship Order, Specific Issue order, Prohibited Steps Order and the Child Arrangement Order.
Specific Issue Order
A specific issue order may entail any particular issue upon which a particular agreement cannot be reached by the parents. These include matters like changing a child’s surname, decisions relating to going on a vacation, financial decisions etc.
Such an order when issued by the court provides the person who has made such an application to the court the permission to act upon a particular decision without the consent of the other parent.
E.g. Sunita the mother of John wants to take John on a vacation to Europe. John’s father Jerome does not agree with the same. Sunita applies to the court to decide.
Prohibited Steps order
Such an order is in the form of a preventative measure that prevents the other parent from carrying out any particular action concerning the child. E.g. an order to prevent a parent to move abroad with the child.
Child Arrangement Order
This order aims to determine with which parent the child will reside. Additionally, It also specifies the frequency that the other parent contacts the child. The court in such situations may also determine the mode of the contact e.g. phone call, face to face contact etc. A court may also grant a Shared Child Arrangement Order wherein the child may reside with multiple people depending on the welfare and the wellbeing of the child.
Special Guardianship Order
This order aims to grant the parental responsibility of a child to a particular person until the child reaches the age of maturity (18 years). This order is generally applied when either there are no parents of the child or if the parents are incapable of taking care of the child.
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