Urgent advice needed on defending a contact order

LJW_2

Hi, contact CAFCASS. Childen and Family Court Advisory Services. Tap Cafcass in a search engine.

Cafcass looks after the interests of children involved in family proceedings. We work with children and their families, and then advise the courts on what we consider to be in the best interests of individual children.

They deal with family courts and promote the interest of children. Not sure if they can work with you but they are the experts in family law including contact. I am sure they will give you some phone advice if they can't help you direct! Worth a try

Good luck

yoni_one

If your local Women's Aid offer an outreach service they may have access to legal representation that specialises in this matter. If you are unable to afford representation they could at least offer advice.

You should be able to find your local office on www.womensaid.org.uk if not try ringing the national helpline on 0808 2000 247 (freephone)

Vomityspice

I have to say i'm surprised that he is only applying for contact!

Probably doesn't have a family law solicitor who would have undoubtedly suggested he applies for a PR as well This would give him some legal powers. Anyway, were not here to assist him....

If he is 'only' apply for contact then the options is to evidence that he is a risk to the child. Do you have the police's advice in writing? (I suspect not)!, Does the ex have a history of violence? Did your daughter flee domestic violence? This may be an avenue to argue.

Alternatively, (and this is something you need to consider carefully due to the legal implications! ) is to begin a campaign of obstruction with the legal process. The idea behind it is that over time the ex will just give up. How this would work in practice is to delay every hearing and when orders are made, ignore them! When the dates are made, ensure (just say) the child is ill.....

NB: There is legislation to deal with this (Adoption Act 2006 -i think...will check!) which mean that initially the court can require that you do some form of community service and if refusal to comply continues, ultimately the court can imprison you. The process is long and tortuous and it would normally take 2-3 years to get to this point.

Another point, is the court in your daugter's area? If not ask the court to transfer it to a local court! another 3 month delay.....

brownedoff_2

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd give you an update on this as you were all so helpful.

Went to court yesterday with my daughter, armed with our concerns. They were very accommodating and agreed for us to see the CAFCASS officer without the ex being in the same room.
His solicitor was present, but was very amicable. Reading between the lines, i got the impression that he wasn't over keen on his client..
It has been agreed for supervised contact for him and his grandmother, every 2 weeks, for a couple of hours at a local centre to us.
His grandmother lives at one end of the country and he at the other, so it will be interesting to see how committed he is!
My daughter will be allowed to sit and observe, which is a relief as we were obviously concerned about leaving such a young baby with strangers. She's not too happy about having to be in the same room as him, but they both need to put the past aside and take the little ones welfare into consideration.
The situation will then be reviewed after 4 months.. we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

So all in all a satisfactory result, as I've said previously we appreciate that it is in baby's interest to know her biological father, even though personally I'd prefer it if he were taken out of the gene pool all together lol..

The next step will be for her to apply for maintenance.. so any input there would be helpful?

Many thanks once again to you all... x

ghandi

brownedoff wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd give you an update on this as you were all so helpful.

Went to court yesterday with my daughter, armed with our concerns. They were very accommodating and agreed for us to see the CAFCASS officer without the ex being in the same room.
His solicitor was present, but was very amicable. Reading between the lines, i got the impression that he wasn't over keen on his client..
It has been agreed for supervised contact for him and his grandmother, every 2 weeks, for a couple of hours at a local centre to us.
His grandmother lives at one end of the country and he at the other, so it will be interesting to see how committed he is!
My daughter will be allowed to sit and observe, which is a relief as we were obviously concerned about leaving such a young baby with strangers. She's not too happy about having to be in the same room as him, but they both need to put the past aside and take the little ones welfare into consideration.
The situation will then be reviewed after 4 months.. we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

So all in all a satisfactory result, as I've said previously we appreciate that it is in baby's interest to know her biological father, even though personally I'd prefer it if he were taken out of the gene pool all together lol..

The next step will be for her to apply for maintenance.. so any input there would be helpful?

Many thanks once again to you all... x

Try this website for advice and help. Ignore the title, there are mothers using it as well.

http://dads-uk.co.uk/main/news.php

Savvy_Sue

brownedoff wrote: »

The next step will be for her to apply for maintenance.. so any input there would be helpful?

CSA? There's a Child Support board which would be the best place to ask a specific question.