By 
Family law guide
Part of: Child Custody Specialists
The welfare checklist is the list of seven matters a family court in England and Wales must weigh before it decides a disputed question about a child’s upbringing. Section 1(3) of the Children Act 1989 sets it out, just below the rule that your child’s welfare is the court’s paramount consideration. In other words, each point is about the child, never about which parent deserves more. If you and the other parent cannot agree where your child should live, or how much time they spend with each of you, the judge will use this list to decide. So will a Cafcass officer (Cafcass Cymru in Wales) asked to report to the court.
Key takeaways
- It applies when someone opposes an order. The court must use it when deciding whether to make, vary or discharge a section 8 order that any party opposes, and in special guardianship, care and supervision cases (s.1(4)).
- Your child’s welfare comes first. It is the court’s paramount consideration (s.1(1)), and the court must bear in mind that delay is likely to prejudice it (s.1(2)).
- The Act does not rank the seven factors. It lists them for the court to consider “in particular”, and the judge decides how much each one matters for your child.
- No order is a real outcome. The court makes an order only if that would be better for the child than making none (s.1(5)), so arrangements that already work may be left as they are.
The welfare principle: what the court puts first
Section 1(1) is the welfare principle. Whenever a court decides a question about a child’s upbringing, or about managing a child’s property or income, the child’s welfare is its paramount consideration. In practice, that places your child’s interests ahead of what either parent feels would be fair to them.
Two further rules sit beside it. The first is about time: any delay in settling the question is likely to prejudice the child’s welfare, and the court must keep that in mind (s.1(2)). The second applies when a section 8 order is opposed. There, the court starts from the position that a parent being involved in the child’s life, directly or indirectly, such as through letters, will be good for the child unless the contrary is shown (s.1(2A)). It says nothing about how the child’s time is split (s.1(2B)).
That presumption falls away for a parent if there is some evidence before the court suggesting that their involvement, in any form, would put the child at risk of harm (s.1(6)). For that reason, a safety concern changes the way the whole list is read.
The presumption itself may not last. The government has said it will repeal it through the Courts and Tribunals Bill, which was still before Parliament when we wrote this, so courts still apply it today. Our guide to what is changing on parental involvement follows the reform.
When the court must use the welfare checklist
Section 1(4) makes the list compulsory in two situations. The first is when the court is deciding whether to make, vary or discharge a section 8 order and a party opposes it. Section 8 orders are child arrangements orders, which settle who a child lives with or spends time with and when, together with prohibited steps orders and specific issue orders (s.8). The second is when the court is considering a special guardianship order, or an order under Part IV of the Act, such as a care or supervision order.
If you both agree, the Act does not require the court to work through the list, though your child’s welfare stays paramount. Adoption, however, has a separate list in section 1(4) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. It adds the effect on the child, throughout their life, of no longer being a member of their birth family. Our guide to placement orders covers it.
The seven welfare checklist factors, and what shows the court each one
Each factor below uses the words of section 1(3). Beside it is the question the court is really asking, and the kind of evidence that helps it answer.
Your child’s wishes, needs and circumstances: factors (a) to (d)
| Factor | What the court is asking | What helps it see the answer |
|---|---|---|
| (a) The child’s ascertainable wishes and feelings, considered in the light of their age and understanding | What does your child want, and how much weight can that carry at their age? | What your child has said in their own words, usually to a Cafcass officer. Our guide to how your child’s voice is heard explains the process. |
| (b) Their physical, emotional and educational needs | What does this child need from day to day, and who has been meeting those needs? | School reports, health records, and a week-by-week picture of who does the daily care. |
| (c) The likely effect on them of any change in their circumstances | What would your child gain or lose if their home, school or routine changed? | A plain account of the current routine and exactly what would change for your child. |
| (d) Their age, sex, background and any characteristics the court considers relevant | Is there anything about who your child is that the arrangements must allow for? | Religion, culture, language, health, disability or special needs, with records. See our guide to children with SEND. |
Harm, parenting and the court’s powers: factors (e) to (g)
| Factor | What the court is asking | What helps it see the answer |
|---|---|---|
| (e) Any harm they have suffered or are at risk of suffering | Has your child been harmed, or are they at risk? Harm includes the impairment a child suffers from seeing or hearing someone else being ill-treated (s.31(9), applied by s.105). | Police, medical, school or social services records, and any existing orders. Disputed allegations may first be decided at a fact-finding hearing. |
| (f) How capable each parent, and any other relevant person, is of meeting their needs | Can each adult in your child’s life meet the needs in (b) to (e)? | Evidence of what you do and would do, rather than what the other parent fails to do. Other adults count too, so say who else helps care for your child. |
| (g) The range of powers available to the court | Which order, if any, would do most for your child? | The court can make a section 8 order even if nobody has applied for one (s.10(1)(b)). |
Which welfare checklist factors are in play in your case?
Pick the answers closest to your situation. The factors that usually carry most weight in a dispute like yours are marked, each with what helps the court see it. Your answers never leave this page.
Step 1 of 3
What your answers point to
Your answers will mark the factors that usually weigh most.Where a child lives turns on their needs, the effect of a new home and who can meet them.Time with each parent starts from the presumption that involvement helps, unless there is risk.A move puts the effect of change at the centre: home, school, friends, the other parent.One decision, such as a school or treatment, turns on what this child needs and who they are.
- (a) Wishes and feelingsIn playRead in the light of age and understanding.Under 5, the adults and professionals around them show their needs.From 5 to 10, their views count in line with their understanding.At 11 or over, how settled and well reasoned their view is matters.
- (b) NeedsIn playPhysical, emotional and educational.Who handles school, health and the daily routine, shown in records.
- (c) Effect of changeIn playAny change of home, school or carer.Today’s routine, and what would change: home, school, friends.
- (d) Age, sex and backgroundIn playAny relevant characteristic of your child.Health, disability, faith or language that any plan has to fit.
- (e) HarmIn playHarm suffered, or the risk of it.This comes first, and evidence of risk ends the presumption.Raise it early. Seeing or hearing ill-treatment can be harm too.
- (f) Each parent’s capabilityIn playAnd anyone else the court considers relevant.Your care now, and how you’d support safe time with the other parent.
- (g) The court’s powersAny order, one nobody applied for, or none.
The weighing is the judge’sThe Act does not rank the factors. How they balance for your child turns on facts no list can see.
How a judge weighs the factors against each other
The welfare checklist itself does not rank the seven factors. The court must have regard to them “in particular”, which leaves room for anything else relevant, and the judge then balances them for the child in front of them. Even so, some patterns follow from the wording itself.
- Wishes carry more weight with age. Factor (a) ties them to age and understanding, so a teenager’s settled view counts for more than a young child’s preference. Our guide to what age a child can choose looks at that question in detail.
- Harm changes how everything else is read. Where there is evidence that involvement in any form would put the child at risk, the presumption of involvement no longer applies (s.1(6)). The court then looks at which arrangements, if any, can be made safely.
- Change has to earn its place. Factor (c) asks what a move of home, school or main carer would do to the child. So a parent proposing a change should be ready to explain what the child gains from it.
- Delay counts against everyone. Because section 1(2) treats delay as likely to prejudice the child, tactics that drag a case out rarely help the parent using them.
Putting the welfare checklist to work in your own case
Whether you are writing a statement, preparing to meet a Cafcass officer or reading their report, the seven factors give you a structure the court already uses.
- Organise your evidence by factor. A statement that takes wishes, needs, change, background, harm and capability in turn is easy for a judge to check against the list.
- Back up what you say. For example, a school report or a letter from the GP shows the court far more than an adjective can.
- Speak to the other home honestly. If it is safe, say how you would support your child’s time with the other parent. The presumption of involvement means the court will ask about it anyway.
- Test any report against the list. Our guide to the role of Cafcass shows how to read a report point by point. If it gets something wrong, see our guide to disagreeing with Cafcass, and for the visit itself, what an officer looks for at home.
We assisted a mother whose daughter, nearly a teenager, had told the Cafcass officer she wanted to live with her father. The mother feared that would settle it. We helped her put that wish alongside the rest of the list: a change of school a year before exams, a younger brother who would stay where he was, and how weekends with her father could grow instead. Each case turns on its own facts and evidence.
Expert Tip
Before you write a word about the other parent, write a page about your child: what a normal Tuesday looks like, who they turn to when they are upset, what worries their teacher. A judge reading against the seven factors wants to know what this child needs and who can meet it. A paragraph about the other parent’s failings that never says what it means for the child leaves the court to do that work for you.
Hannah Overton, Complex Children Specialist & Client Support
Welfare checklist: frequently asked questions
Does the court use the welfare checklist if we agree on arrangements?
It does not have to. Section 1(4) makes the list compulsory where a section 8 order is opposed. The welfare principle still applies, so your child’s welfare remains the court’s paramount consideration, and the court will still only make an order if that would be better for your child than making none.
Which of the seven factors matters most?
None of them, as a rule. The Children Act 1989 lists the factors without ranking them, and the judge decides how much weight each one carries for the particular child. For example, in one case harm may dominate; in another, the effect of a change of school.
Does a child get the final say once they reach a certain age?
No. There is no age in the Act at which a child’s wishes decide the case. Factor (a) tells the court to consider their wishes and feelings in the light of their age and understanding, so an older child’s view usually counts for more.
Does the checklist apply in care proceedings?
Yes. Section 1(4)(b) applies it whenever the court is considering whether to make, vary or discharge an order under Part IV of the Children Act 1989, which includes care and supervision orders, or a special guardianship order.
Is there a different list for adoption?
Yes. Adoption decisions follow section 1(4) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. It covers similar ground and adds the effect on the child, throughout their life, of no longer being a member of their birth family and becoming an adopted person.
Worried the judge will not see what your child needs?
Cases go wrong on the welfare checklist when a parent’s evidence answers the wrong question: who caused the separation, instead of what this child needs from each home. Once a Cafcass recommendation has framed the case that way, the gap is hard to close.
A free initial consultation is a conversation with a specialist, who gives you initial advice tailored to your circumstances. It does not include drafting or reviewing documents. If you safely can, have any court papers to hand, together with your child’s school and health details.
Book a free initial consultation or call 0330 094 5880.
If your child is in immediate danger, call 999.
You can also read about lives with and spends time with orders and the C100 form, or return to our child arrangements specialists.
General information about the law in England and Wales, not advice on your circumstances.
