Changes in the Law on Children’s Contact With Non-Resident Parents: What This Means for Families, Courts and Contact Services.

Recent changes in family law have marked a significant shift in how children’s contact with non-resident parents is considered in England and Wales. For parents, solicitors and professionals working across the family justice system, this reform represents a clear move towards stronger safeguarding, child-centred decision-making, and evidence-led contact arrangements.

For children’s contact services, including supervised contact, supported contact, and child contact centres, this change has increased both responsibility and relevance. This blog explains what has changed, why it matters, and how contact services are playing an increasingly vital role in supporting safe family contact arrangements.

Understanding the Legal Change

Historically, family courts operated with a presumption of parental involvement. This meant there was a starting assumption that a child’s welfare was best served by maintaining contact with both parents, including a non-resident parent, unless there was clear evidence that contact would place the child at risk. That presumption is now being removed.

The law is shifting away from automatic assumptions and towards a fully welfare based assessment. Courts are no longer expected to begin with the idea that contact should happen. Instead, they must consider:

• Whether contact is safe

• Whether it supports the child’s emotional and physical wellbeing

• Whether it is beneficial for the child, rather than simply fair to adults

This reform is particularly significant in cases involving domestic abuse, high conflict, coercive control, or ongoing safeguarding concerns.

A Clearer Focus on Child Welfare and Safeguarding

Safeguarding has always been central to family court decision making, but this change strengthens how safeguarding is applied in practice.

Under the new approach:

• Child welfare is the sole starting point

• Parental rights do not outweigh safety concerns

• Courts are encouraged to scrutinise risk more closely

• Children’s lived experiences and expressed wishes carry greater weight

This shift recognises what many professionals have long observed: contact that is unsafe, rushed, or poorly managed can cause emotional harm, even when intentions appear positive.

What This Means for Family Court Contact Arrangements

Family court contact arrangements are now more likely to:

• Be introduced gradually rather than immediately

• Include conditions, structure, or professional oversight

• Be reviewed based on evidence rather than assumption

• Prioritise quality and safety over frequency

For some families, this may mean that contact is paused, limited, or re-introduced in a more controlled way. For others, it may provide reassurance that contact will only proceed when it genuinely supports the child.

The Growing Importance of Children’s Contact Services

As courts move away from presumption and towards evidence, children’s contact services have become an essential safeguarding mechanism within the family justice system.

Contact services provide neutral, child-focused environments where contact can take place safely, transparently, and professionally. This includes:

• Supervised contact, where interactions are observed and supported by trained staff

• Supported contact, where lower level concerns exist but oversight is still beneficial

• Safe handovers, reducing conflict and emotional harm during transitions

• Structured sessions, designed around the child’s needs rather than parental disputes

For many families, a child contact centre offers stability at a time of uncertainty.

Why Supervised Contact Is Being Used More Frequently

With the removal of automatic assumptions about contact, courts increasingly rely on supervised contact services to manage risk and gather evidence.

Supervised contact allows:

• Children to maintain relationships in a safe setting

• Risks to be managed and monitored

• Courts to receive clear, factual feedback

• Parents to demonstrate insight, consistency and child-focused behaviour

Rather than being punitive, supervised contact is often a protective and enabling step, helping families move forward safely where appropriate.

The Role of Supported Contact in Lower-Risk Cases

Not all cases require full supervision. Supported contact is often used where:

• Communication between parents is difficult but not dangerous

• Children need reassurance in a neutral environment

• Parents benefit from structure without intensive oversight

Supported contact services still prioritise safeguarding, boundaries and child welfare, while allowing relationships to develop in a more natural way.

What Parents Need to Know

For parents navigating child contact following separation or court involvement, this legal change can feel uncertain.

Key points to understand:

• Contact is not automatic, but it is still possible

• Courts are looking for safe, child-focused parenting

• Engagement with children’s contact services can be viewed positively

• Consistency, cooperation and insight matter

Using a child contact centre can provide reassurance to both parents and children, particularly during early or sensitive stages of contact.

What Solicitors and Professionals Should Be Aware Of

For solicitors, social workers and CAFCASS officers, this reform reinforces the value of clear evidence and professional oversight.

Children’s contact services now play a greater role in:

• Risk management

• Safeguarding assurance

• Informing court decisions

• Supporting proportionate, safe contact arrangements

High-quality contact services with strong safeguarding frameworks, trained staff and accurate reporting are increasingly relied upon by the courts.

A Shift Towards Safer, Child-Centred Contact

This change in the law reflects a broader cultural shift within family justice, one that places children’s safety, emotional wellbeing and lived experience at the centre of all decisions.

Children’s contact services are no longer just practical venues for contact. They are a core part of safeguarding-led family court contact arrangements, helping ensure that contact, where it occurs, is safe, supportive and genuinely beneficial.

How Children’s Contact Services Support Better Outcomes

When delivered well, children’s contact services can:

• Reduce conflict and anxiety for children

• Provide structure and predictability

• Protect children from emotional harm

• Support courts in making informed decisions

• Help families move towards safer long term arrangements

In the context of this legal change, their role is only set to grow.

Final Thoughts

The removal of the presumption of parental involvement does not mean that children should lose meaningful relationships. Instead, it ensures that contact is guided by evidence, safety and the child’s best interests not assumptions.

For families, professionals and courts alike, children’s contact services now sit at the heart of this more careful, child-focused approach to contact.