Following family separation, it is important for you to develop an agreement of some sort in order to provide you and your ex with a framework to organise important things like where your child will live, how your child will spend time with you both and how you will communicate with each other.
You may not want to go to court or to involve solicitors or any third-parties in your separation, and that’s ok, you don’t have to, but if you want to find out the benefits of some external support then please have a look at Support for Parents and Support for Children pages.
If you want to have an informal agreement (i.e. not legal or mediated), and there have been no elements of domestic abuse within your relationship, then we suggest an agreement using this guidance.
It is important that your agreement should be tailored to your family needs and should cover any areas that you all feel are important. Agreements should not be dictated from one parent to the other and instead should take all people’s views into consideration, focusing on what is best for the children.
If you have been the victim of domestic abuse, you may wish to use a third party, such as a solicitor, to help you produce a more suitable framework that protects you and the children.
If you can’t agree, then you could use a mediator to help you reach a mediated agreement. If this doesn’t work, then you could apply to the court for a court order.