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Legal basics · England & Wales
How long does a child arrangements order take?
The honest answer is that there is a published guide figure, but no reliable timetable for one particular family. Here is what the latest statistics say, what happens before the first hearing and where the Child Focused Courts approach fits.
The short answer
Usually around 10 months, says GOV.UK.
GOV.UK gives the plain-English figure that a child arrangements order usually takes around 10 months. It is a broad guide to the process. It is not a prediction for your family, and it does not tell you when a particular application will be resolved.
The latest Family Court Statistics Quarterly, known as FCSQ, gives a more specific snapshot. For private-law cases disposed of between January and March 2026, the mean time to disposal was 35 weeks. 52% of those cases were disposed of within 26 weeks.
These are different ways of describing a group of cases. A mean is not a finish date, and the proportion within 26 weeks is not a target for an individual application. The next FCSQ release, covering April to June 2026, is due on 24 September 2026. Published statistics can help set expectations, but they cannot settle the question of how long one case will take.
Before the application
There is usually a step before the C100.
Before making a relevant family application, a parent is required to attend a MIAM, unless exempt. MIAM stands for Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting. It is part of the route before the court application, rather than a hearing about the child arrangements themselves.
The application for a child arrangements order is made using form C100. You can apply online or send the form by post. The fee is £270, and help with fees is available. The current C100 form and MIAM guide gives the application route in one place. This page focuses on the timing, so check the current court information before relying on a fee or procedural detail.
Agreement can change what happens next. If parents reach a workable arrangement, they may not need the same court process as a case where the issues remain disputed. A written parenting plan can be a useful place to record an agreement. It is not the same thing as asking this page to predict an outcome, and it should not be used to hide a safety concern.
Before the first hearing
Two published timings to know.
Once the application is moving through the court process, two timings help explain the early stages. They are stated as service expectations or ordinary timing, not as a personal case forecast.
Cafcass safeguarding letter
Cafcass should send a safeguarding letter within 17 working days of receiving the application. In Wales, Cafcass Cymru has 20 working days.
FHDRA
The First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment should ordinarily take place in week 5 following the issuing of the application, and at the latest in week 6.
The safeguarding letter and the first hearing are different parts of the early process. Cafcass explains its role before the first hearing in our Cafcass guide. Keeping a note of dates and documents can make the sequence easier to follow, especially when parents are also managing school, work and handovers.
A general guide only
Why cases do not all move at the same pace.
In general terms, a case may take longer when the disagreement remains unresolved, when more information needs to be gathered, or when the court needs more attention to the issues affecting the child. A case may move more quickly when parents reach agreement earlier and the information needed for the next step is clear.
Those are broad descriptions, not a checklist or a way to calculate a finish date. The court process is concerned with the child, and the shape of one case can differ from another. The sensible use of published figures is to understand the process around you, not to count down to a promised result.
If an existing order is not being followed, our guide to what happens when an order is broken explains the calm-first record and enforcement information covered by this site. If a relative is part of the disagreement, the guide for grandparents and other relatives explains the permission question.
A changing model
Child Focused Courts put the child impact earlier.
The renamed Child Focused Courts, also called the Child Focused Model, were announced for national roll-out across England and Wales on 17 March 2026. At the time of the fact pack used for this guide, the model was live in 10 of 43 areas: all Wales, Birmingham and the West Midlands, Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and West Yorkshire.
Under the approach, a Cafcass, Cafcass Cymru or local authority Child Impact Report, including the child\'s views, is produced before the first hearing rather than at the end. The first hearing focuses on how the dispute affects the child. The model also brings earlier multi-agency information gathering, regular involvement of domestic-abuse professionals known as IDVAs, fewer hearings and a more investigative, problem-solving approach.
The pilot began in February 2022 in Dorset and North Wales. Pilot evidence published on 3 February 2025 recorded average case length falling from 29 to 18 weeks in North Wales and from 38 to 27 weeks in Dorset, with open cases halved. That is evidence about those pilot areas. It is not a promise that the same change will happen in another area or in an individual case.
On 29 September 2026 the Court of Appeal handed down the first appeal on this model, Re C [2026] EWCA Civ 1216. The Court said the procedure has changed, but the law has not, and that Practice Direction 12J still applies in full. Our note on what that decision means stays with that point. The Child Focused Courts explainer sets out the rollout. Neither page is a timetable for one family.
Quick answers
Timing questions, answered plainly.
How long does a child arrangements order usually take?
GOV.UK says it usually takes around 10 months. The latest FCSQ figures, for January to March 2026, show a mean of 35 weeks for private-law cases, with 52% disposed within 26 weeks. These figures cannot predict an individual case.
What happens before the first hearing?
A MIAM is required before a relevant family application unless exempt. After the C100 application, Cafcass sends a safeguarding letter within 17 working days, or within 20 working days in Wales. The FHDRA should ordinarily take place in week 5, and at the latest in week 6.
How much does it cost to apply?
The fee for a C100 application is £270. Help with fees is available.
What are Child Focused Courts?
The Child Focused Courts, also called the Child Focused Model, produce a Child Impact Report before the first hearing and focus that hearing on the dispute's impact on the child. The approach includes earlier information gathering, regular domestic-abuse professional involvement and fewer hearings. On 29 September 2026 the Court of Appeal said, in the first appeal on this model, that the procedure has changed but the law has not, and that Practice Direction 12J still applies in full.
Can you tell me exactly when my case will finish?
No. Every case differs, and published figures describe groups of cases rather than an individual family's timetable.
Sources checked and read 13 September 2026, except the Child Focused Courts appeal, read 10 October 2026: GOV.UK, apply for a court order · Family Court Statistics Quarterly · GOV.UK, Child Focused Courts announcement · Re C [2026] EWCA Civ 1216 · Cafcass, before the first hearing. Figures and timings are dated information, so check the current position before relying on them.
More legal basics: When an order is broken → · Grandparents and relatives → · Child arrangements orders, explained → · The C100 form and MIAM → · Cafcass, explained → · All guides →
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