I want contact with my children at Christmas, can you sort this out?

Jo Spain, family law solicitor

The simple answer is yes, but only if you deal with this early enough. The worst thing is to leave it until a couple of weeks before Christmas and then find that it may be too late to do anything.

You should consider as early as possible what contact you would like with your children over the Christmas period. If you can agree this direct with the other parent then this is the very best solution. If not then you could consider attending mediation with the other person (although this may take a few weeks to set up so even now you are running out of time).

If neither of these work then see if your Solicitor can negotiate in writing with the other person or their Solicitor. As a final resort a Court application can be made and the Court will listen to both of you and make a decision.

If you do make a Court application then it will take some time to be prepared and then processed by the Court, and although the Court will always try to fit this in before Christmas, you may find you are very near to the dates you want.

The key is – think about this now and don't leave it to the last minute!