19/06/2026
The six weeks of summer holidays can be a brilliant stretch of the year for families. Trips away, time off school, and a slower pace at home for everyone. For separated parents, though, those same six weeks often bring more pressure than any other point in the calendar.
Twice as long as the Easter break, with potentially more travel involved, and more chance of overlap with the other parent’s plans, the summer holiday is one of the most common sources of family law disputes we see. If any of this sounds familiar, you are not alone.
Most can be sorted without going to court, and at Russell & Russell, as members of Resolution, our family law team is committed to promoting non-confrontational approaches to family law matters. We work with families on the various options available to them, including mediation, helping couples work together towards mutually acceptable solutions, and avoiding, where possible, adversarial court proceedings.
In this blog, our family law team outlines some key considerations for summer holiday planning, focusing on a collaborative approach to enable a school break that balances everyone’s needs, especially your children’s.
Start by Checking What Is Already in Place
Before you make new plans, look at what has already been agreed. Even though summer holidays are longer than Christmas or other half-term breaks, many parents find their existing arrangements do not say anything specific about them. You may already have:
- a parenting plan made when you separated
- a Consent Order
- a Child Arrangements Order from the court
If a court order is in place, both parents are expected to follow it unless you both agree to change it. If your existing arrangement does not deal with summer specifically, that does not mean either parent can do whatever they like. The starting point in family law is always what is best for the children, not what is most convenient for either parent.
It is also worth checking whether one of you has a “lives with” order in your favour, which is a court order stating which parent a child will live with. That affects what you can do around foreign travel, and it is where parents often get caught out.
Taking Children Abroad: What You Need to Know
This is where the rules tend to surprise people. Taking a child outside the UK without the right consent can amount to child abduction under the Child Abduction Act 1984, even if the parent has every intention of coming home at the end of the trip.
In brief:
- If you do not have a Child Arrangements Order in your favour, you should have written consent from everyone with parental responsibility (the legal right to make decisions about the child) before taking the children abroad. In most cases, that means the other parent.
- If you do have a “lives with” Child Arrangements Order, you can take the children abroad for up to 28 days without the other parent’s consent. For a longer summer trip, you will still need their agreement.
- “Abroad” includes day trips to the Republic of Ireland, cruises, and other journeys parents sometimes assume are too short to count.
Even if your relationship with your co-parent is amicable, we recommend getting written consent each time. A short email confirming the destination, the travel dates, accommodation details, and your contact details while away is enough. Border staff occasionally ask for evidence at passport control (especially common if you do not share the same surname as your child(ren) or you are travelling solo with them), and a written agreement helps avoid difficult conversations at the airport.
If you are the parent staying behind and you are not comfortable with the trip, do not simply refuse without explaining why. Courts expect both parents to behave reasonably, and an unexplained refusal can work against you if the matter ever reaches a judge. Give some thought to what it is that worries you about the trip and consider whether there is a reasonable alternative that could be proposed.
Seek early advice from an experienced family law professional if you have genuine safety concerns or worry about whether the children will be returned.
What If We Cannot Agree?
If conversations with your ex are going nowhere, try working through these steps in order before doing anything formal.
- Suggest a calm conversation focused on the children: Keep it short. How long is the break? When are the realistic handover windows? What would help the children feel settled across six weeks of time off? Stick to those three questions, and you avoid most of the old ground that tends to derail these talks.
- Offer options rather than ultimatums: Splitting the summer break in half is the most common approach. Children spend three weeks with one parent, three weeks with the other, with handovers clearly agreed in advance. Other families may prefer a week-on, week-off pattern, particularly if both parents are working. If one of you has already booked time off, it is better to inform the other parent early to avoid unintended overlaps or clashes.
- Confirm the agreement in writing: Early, open communication helps alleviate any potential conflict. A text or email exchange is enough to confirm what you have both agreed to; it does not need to be in the form of a formal document. Keep note of the dates and plans that have been agreed, the handover times, and where each will take place. This protects both of you and gives the children a clearer picture of what is happening across the break.
- Try family mediation: If you are unable to reach an agreement or are finding it hard to communicate without conflict, mediation can help. A trained family mediator stays neutral and helps you work through child arrangements in a focused way. There is legal aid available in some circumstances, plus a government voucher scheme that can contribute towards mediation costs for child issues. Some Greater Manchester and Cheshire providers already take part - Manchester & Cheshire Mediation. Mediation is not about forcing you to agree. It is about getting you both to a place where a workable plan is actually possible.
- Get legal advice before things become urgent: If your ex is refusing contact, threatening to take the children abroad without your agreement, or ignoring an order that is already in place, the sooner you speak to a family law solicitor, the better. Last-minute court applications in June and July are stressful and expensive, and they cannot always be heard before the school term ends.
When the Court May Need to Be Involved
If you have tried the steps above and a disagreement still cannot be resolved, the court can step in. The right application depends on what the dispute is actually about.
- Specific Issue Order: If contact generally works but you cannot agree on one specific point, such as whether the children can go on a particular holiday abroad, a Specific Issue Order asks the court to decide that single question. This is often the quickest route for travel-related disputes.
- Prohibited Steps Order: If you are worried that the other parent intends to take the children abroad without your consent, or that they may not bring them back, a Prohibited Steps Order can stop them from doing so. These can be made on an urgent basis in a genuine emergency.
- Child Arrangements Order: If the wider pattern of contact is not working, a Child Arrangements Order sets out where the children live and when they spend time with each parent. Holiday provision can be built directly into the order, so future summers, Christmases, and half-terms do not become annual flashpoints.
The court will always expect you to have tried to resolve matters without litigation first, usually through mediation. With the summer break drawing closer, court diaries tend to fill quickly in May and June, particularly with the pressure on family courts in Greater Manchester and the wider region.
Acting early gives you the best chance of a workable outcome before the children’s break begins.
Local Support for Separated Parents
Alongside legal advice, some parents and children benefit from practical co-parenting support. A few resources worth knowing about:
- Bolton Council - Relationships Matter: courses and support aimed at reducing parental conflict in families.
- Cafcass - independent guidance on how child arrangements work when parents cannot agree. Cafcass.
- Resolution - finding a family lawyer who follows the Resolution Code of Practice. resolution.org.uk
Speak to Our Family Law Team
If summer holiday contact or a planned trip abroad is causing concern, early advice usually makes a stressful situation more manageable. At Russell & Russell, our family lawyers follow the Resolution Code of Practice, which means our focus stays on reducing conflict and finding solutions that work for the children rather than scoring points between the adults.
We support families across Bolton, Horwich, Farnworth, Bury, Atherton, Chester, and the wider Greater Manchester area. Whether you need help negotiating with your ex, drafting an agreement, arranging mediation, or making a court application, we can talk you through your options at every stage.
To speak to our family law team, please contact us on 0800 103 2600 or make an online enquiry, and someone will get back in touch. And, if you have an urgent situation, you can contact us out of office hours on our 24-hour emergency helpline.
Please note that this article is meant as general guidance and not intended as legal or professional advice. Updates to the law may have changed since this article was published.