A Child Arrangement Order or Child Arrangements Order (CAO) [1] is an agreement under English family law concerning where a child lives and whom a child can have contact with. CAOs are usually sought following the breakdown of a relationship and replace 'contact orders' and 'residence orders'. Their legal basis is under section 8 of the Children Act 1989. [2]
Agreement partner may be able to avoid going to court if you agree on:[ citation needed ]
This is called making child arrangements (sometimes known as ‘child custody’ or ‘child contact’).