Life changes, and an order made for an earlier week can stop fitting. If there is already a child arrangements order, the useful question is not only what would work better. It is whether a written agreement is enough, or whether the order itself needs to change.
When is agreement enough, and when do parents apply back to court? If you both agree, GOV.UK says you can do something different from the order. That agreement is not enforceable later unless you make it legally binding, usually by asking the court to approve a consent order. If you cannot agree, you can ask the court to decide how to vary the order. The C100 form page says that form can be used to apply to vary or discharge an order.
I read the current GOV.UK pages on 23 October 2026, including Change or enforce an order and the C100 form page (last updated 1 June 2026). This note stays with what those pages say. It is general information for England and Wales, not legal advice, and not a prediction about any family.
Scotland and Northern Ireland are different. GOV.UK’s overview says what you can do there is not the same. If you are not sure which system applies, start with the official guide rather than this note.
Read those official pages before you rely on anything here. Our C100 guide names the form. It does not replace the form page, and neither does this post.
If you both agree, you can do something different
GOV.UK’s change-or-enforce page says you can change an existing court order or consent order. It also says you can decide to do something different from the court order, if you both agree.
That second sentence is easy to over-read. The same page says you will not be able to enforce this later on unless you make it legally binding.
So a written agreement can be enough for the day to day, if both parents follow it. It does not, on its own, replace the order. If the agreement later breaks down, the order is still the thing a court can be asked to enforce, not the later note, unless you have made the new agreement legally binding.
I am not saying a written note is pointless. I am saying it does a different job from an order. It records what you both said you would do. It does not change what the court has already ordered.
A plan is a record, not a new order
GOV.UK’s page on making a child arrangements plan says you do not have to do any official paperwork if you agree about child arrangements, and that you can write down what you have agreed if you want a record.
Read the next line on that page before you use the service. It says you should not use the service if you already have a court order that sets out child arrangements you and the other parent must follow. In that case, GOV.UK points you to changing or enforcing the order instead.
The same page says any plan created with that service is not legally binding. The other parent does not have to do what it says, and either of you can suggest changes at any time.
Our guide to changing arrangements as children grow is about those practical reviews: school, clubs, teenagers, a house move. It is the right place for the conversation about what might work better. It is not the court route.
If there is no order yet, a written plan can be the whole arrangement. Our parenting plan template is one way to write that down. It is still not a court order.
If you want the new agreement to be legally binding
If you both agree, GOV.UK says you can draft a consent order to cover the new agreement and ask the court to approve it.
The plan page says a legal adviser can prepare the draft. You and the other parent both have to sign it. You then ask the court to approve it. If the court approves the agreement, the consent order becomes legally binding.
There is usually no court hearing for that approval. The plan page says a judge will approve the consent order if they think the arrangements are best for the children. The apply for a court order page says a judge or magistrate reviews a consent order and decides whether to confirm it, and that you do not usually have to attend court. If the judge does not agree with the draft, the plan page says they can arrange a hearing or ask for more evidence.
That is as far as this post goes. How to draft the order, which boxes to complete, and what to send are on those official pages, not here.
The apply page also lists applying for a consent order as a reason you will not usually need to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting, often called a MIAM, before you apply. The C100 form page says that attending a MIAM is otherwise a legal requirement before you apply to the family court, unless you have a valid exemption. I am not listing those exemptions. The current list, and what evidence each one needs, is on GOV.UK. An authorised mediator, or a legal adviser, is the person who can tell you what applies to you.
If you cannot agree, you can ask the court to vary the order
If you cannot agree, GOV.UK says you can ask a court to decide how to change, or vary, the order.
The same page is plain about what that usually involves. If you ask the court to change or enforce an order, you will probably have to go to a court hearing. You can usually avoid that if you get support outside court, such as mediation or other help.
Mediation is a conversation with an accredited mediator. It is not counselling, and it is not a decision imposed on you. GOV.UK’s mediation page says that if you reach an agreement, you get a document showing what you agreed, and you do not need to do anything else unless you want that agreement made legally binding. If you do, the route is a consent order, as above. I am not walking through how to book a meeting. Those details change, and they live on that page and on our Family Mediation Voucher Scheme guide.
The C100 form page says you can also use that form to apply to vary or discharge an order. Some people need permission from the court to make an application. The form page says you can apply for that permission by completing the relevant section of the form. It does not, on the page I read, list every person who needs permission. If that question applies to you, read the form page and get advice. Do not treat this post as the list.
Our C100 guide explains what the form is. It is not a set of instructions for varying an existing order, and neither is this post. The current form, and the apply page it links to, are the procedure.
GOV.UK’s apply page says the court will only make an order if it is what is best for the child. A page like this cannot tell you whether a variation will be granted. Nobody should promise that.
Ending an order is a different question
Varying an order and ending one are not the same request.
GOV.UK says you use form C100 to apply to end, or discharge, a court order that is not working, or is not relevant to you and your children any more.
If the order already ends at a fixed time, the same page says you can make your own agreement or draft a consent order. You can get support to reach agreement, including mediation.
If the problem is that the other parent is not following the order, that is enforcement, not a variation. GOV.UK points to a different form, the C79, and sets those steps out on the same change-or-enforce page. Our note on when an order is not being followed stays at that high level. I am not repeating the enforcement steps here.
If agreement does not feel safe
GOV.UK’s planning page says not to use that service if you feel pressured or intimidated into using it. If you or your children are at immediate risk of harm, call 999.
A written agreement that one parent felt unable to refuse is not the “agreement is enough” route this post describes. Get specialist help. The safety notice at the top of this page has the National Domestic Abuse Helpline number.
Legal aid may be available to help pay for a legal adviser in court, including where there is evidence of domestic abuse. GOV.UK’s overview says that, and links a legal aid checker. I am not going to guess who qualifies. The checker is on GOV.UK.
What to write down, either way
Whether the next step is a conversation, a consent order or an application, a short dated note is more useful than a long argument.
Write what the order currently says, in your own words, and where the official copy is. Write the change you are proposing, the dates it would cover, and what the other parent said in reply. Keep the note factual. Leave out guesses about motive.
ParentGlow can hold that kind of practical record: the dates, a request, and what was accepted. It is not a consent order, not a court application, and not a substitute for the official pages above. It is one calm place to keep the version you are both working from.
Where to start
If you both agree and you only need the week to work, write the change down and both keep a copy. Know that it does not change the order.
If you both agree and you need the new arrangement to be enforceable, GOV.UK’s route is a consent order that the court approves.
If you cannot agree, the route is an application asking the court to vary the order. The C100 form page says that form can be used for that application, and for an application to discharge an order. Read the form page. Do not file from a blog post.
The official starting point is Change or enforce an order on GOV.UK.
