Search Legislation

The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995

 Help about what version

What Version

 Help about advanced features

Advanced Features

More Resources

Changes to legislation:

The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, Paragraph 12 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 29 March 2024. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations. Help about Changes to Legislation

Close

Changes to Legislation

Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the ‘more’ link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.

View outstanding changes

Changes and effects yet to be applied to Schedule 1 Paragraph 12:

  • Sch. 1 para. 12(2A) omitted by S.I. 2019/519 Sch. para. 23(2)(b) (This amendment not applied to legislation.gov.uk. S.I. 2019/519, Sch. para. 23(2) substituted (17.12.2020) by S.I. 2020/1574, regs. 1, 5(3)(i))
  • Sch. 1 para. 12(2B) omitted by S.I. 2019/519 Sch. para. 23(2)(c) (This amendment not applied to legislation.gov.uk. S.I. 2019/519, Sch. para. 23(2) substituted (17.12.2020) by S.I. 2020/1574, regs. 1, 5(3)(i))
  • Sch. 1 para. 12(2) words omitted by S.I. 2019/519 Sch. para. 23(2)(a) (This amendment not applied to legislation.gov.uk. S.I. 2019/519, Sch. para. 23(2) substituted (17.12.2020) by S.I. 2020/1574, regs. 1, 5(3)(i))
  • Sch. 1 para. 12(2A) words substituted by S.I. 2019/519, Sch. para. 23(2)(a) (as substituted) by S.I. 2019/1338 reg. 3(3)(i) (This amendment not applied to legislation.gov.uk. The affecting statutory instrument has no legal effect. It was made under a procedure which meant that it ceased to have effect 28 days after signing unless it was debated and approved in Parliament within that time. It was not debated and approved within 28 days, so it has expired with no effect.)
  • Sch. 1 para. 12(2B) words substituted by S.I. 2019/519, Sch. para. 23(2)(b) (as substituted) by S.I. 2019/1338 reg. 3(3)(i) (This amendment not applied to legislation.gov.uk. The affecting statutory instrument has no legal effect. It was made under a procedure which meant that it ceased to have effect 28 days after signing unless it was debated and approved in Parliament within that time. It was not debated and approved within 28 days, so it has expired with no effect.)

Changes and effects yet to be applied to the whole Order associated Parts and Chapters:

Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Order (including any effects on those provisions):

12.—(1) In this paragraph and in paragraph 13 “maintenance agreement” means any agreement in writing made with respect to a child (including an agreement made before the commencement of this paragraph) which—N.I.

(a)is or was made between the father and mother of the child; and

(b)contains provision with respect to the making or securing of payments, or the disposition or use of any property, for the maintenance or education of the child,

and any such provisions are in this paragraph and paragraph 13 referred to as “financial arrangements”.

(2) [F1Subject to sub-paragraph (2A), where] a maintenance agreement is for the time being subsisting and each of the parties to the agreement is for the time being either domiciled or resident in Northern Ireland, then either party may apply to the court for an order under this paragraph.

[F2(2A) If an application or part of an application relates to a matter [F3in relation to which Article 18 of the 2007 Hague Convention applies, the court may not entertain the application or that part of it except where permitted by Article 18].

(2B) In sub-paragraph (2A), [F4“the 2007 Hague Convention” means the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance concluded on 23 November 2007 at The Hague].]

(3) If the court to which the application is made is satisfied either—

(a)that, by reason of a change in the circumstances in the light of which any financial arrangements contained in the agreement were made (including a change foreseen by the parties when making the agreement), the agreement should be altered so as to make different financial arrangements; or

(b)that the agreement does not contain proper financial arrangements with respect to the child,

then that court may by order make such alterations in the agreement by varying or revoking any financial arrangements contained in it as may appear to the court to be just having regard to all the circumstances.

(4) If the maintenance agreement is altered by an order under this paragraph, the agreement shall have effect thereafter as if the alteration had been made by agreement between the parties and for valuable consideration.

(5) Where a court decides to make an order under this paragraph altering the maintenance agreement—

(a)by inserting provision for the making or securing by one of the parties to the agreement of periodical payments for the maintenance of the child; or

(b)by increasing the rate of periodical payments required to be made or secured by one of the parties for the maintenance of the child,

then, in deciding the term for which under the agreement as altered by the order the payments or (as the case may be) the additional payments attributable to the increase are to be made or secured for the benefit of the child, the court shall apply the provisions of sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) of paragraph 4 as if the order were an order under paragraph 2(2)(a) or (b).

(6) A court of summary jurisdiction shall not entertain an application under sub-paragraph (2) unless both the parties to the agreement are resident in Northern Ireland F5..., and shall not have power to make any order on such an application except—

(a)in a case where the agreement contains no provision for periodical payments by either of the parties, an order inserting provision for the making by one of the parties of periodical payments for the maintenance of the child;

(b)in a case where the agreement includes provision for the making by one of the parties of periodical payments, an order increasing or reducing the rate of, or terminating, any of those payments.

(7) Nothing in this paragraph affects any power of a court before which any proceedings between the parties to a maintenance agreement are brought under any other statutory provision to make an order containing financial arrangements or any right of either party to apply for such an order in such proceedings.

[F6(8) In the case of a child who has a parent by virtue of section 42 or 43 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, the reference in sub-paragraph (1)(a) to the child's father is a reference to the woman who is a parent of the child by virtue of that section.]

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

You have chosen to open The Whole Order

The Whole Order you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open The Whole Order as a PDF

The Whole Order you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open the Whole Order

The Whole Order you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Close

See additional information alongside the content

Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

Timeline of Changes

This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.