We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
really need some advice about family court

bladeguard
Posts: 87 Forumite
My friend has been given contact to see his child by his private residency hearing the contact has to be initially with SS. SS are so underfunded that they cannot facilitate this and are thus in contempt of court as is his ex-partner.
His solicitor tells him It seems that neither the Judge nor mother's solicitors are aware of the limitations of the Court in a case like this, but social services legal dept might pick up on it. What does this mean and why is it not enforceable as otherwise it makes the courts orders useless or has the solicitor got it wrong?
His solicitor tells him It seems that neither the Judge nor mother's solicitors are aware of the limitations of the Court in a case like this, but social services legal dept might pick up on it. What does this mean and why is it not enforceable as otherwise it makes the courts orders useless or has the solicitor got it wrong?
0
Comments
-
Have SS said they can never facility it, or that they cannot facilitate it immediately?
If the court hasn't set a time limit, then your friend may have to wait.
Only other option would be to return to court and inform the judge that SS have not facilitated. The judge then has 3 choices:
To allow contact without SS;
To order SS to facilitate;
To tell your friend it is not possible to undermine SS's own funding priorities and leave it to SS to decide if and when they can facilitate.I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0 -
court set contact every two weeks by court order. SS have said nothing to him even though he rang them he cannot get the person dealing with this to call back0
-
Hi he needs to put it in writing to the head of the social services department dealing with his case. In the letter he should put that despite repeated calls to the office that the person concerned has failed to get back to him. Tell them that they will be in contempt of court for failing to provide a suitable venue for him to see his child.
Social services have other staff they can use such as support workers. There are family centers up and down the country staffed until the evening. Dont let social services complain about under funding they have to set aside money for different areas and they always complain.
Tell your friend that he should keep a copy of the letter he sends and to log any calls he makes.0 -
He said Social Services head office complaints already aware that they said they could not facilitate contact but this was before the court order he got from family court giving contact.
As he is in a private legal matter. Is Social Services , his ex partner or both of them that is in breach of this court order?
What is the result of being in breach of a court order of this nature?
Thanks for your help0 -
Can anyone give a guide to this above please? Someone must have some experiance?0
-
I would have thought he goes back to court with a letter from SS to say they cannot facilitate. Court then decides whether to order SS to facilitate or to grant access without SS involvement.
The party that breached is the one that the court order is directed to.I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0 -
Bladeguard, your friend could try contacting Fathers For Justice, or look at their website, they have lots of knowledge in this area.0
-
without knowing what the order said exactly its difficult to say.
there will be different parts to the order, some of it giving him permission to see his children under supervision, some of it (i assume) ordering social services to facilitate and supervise the contact.
if they fail to do this, it is ss who are in breach of the order, not the ex partner
what is the first date of contact on the order? if there is a specific date and the contact hasnt happened by the date, regardless of your friend chasing SSD, then they are in breach. If however, it the order says something along the lines of 'before the nexgt hearing' or 'in such time as is reasonable' or something just as vague, he will have to wait, but the court will obviously want to minimise delay in the child's welfare and life so it has to be within a reasonable time.
and its correct that SSD will tell people they cant do someting because they have no funds, however once ordered by court, unless they are going to challenge it, they will have to comply0 -
hold on, if this is a private hearing (ie its not care proceedings) then the court will only order for contact to be supervised or facilitated if there are child protection or domestic violence concerns.
if that is the case, or there are allegations, then why cant the solicitors agree on a contact venue themselves and the cost of supervision and reporting back to court be shared between your friend and the ex partner, as is usually the case.
why have SSD been asked to facilitate. and is the order about facilitation or facilitation and supervision. supervision normally requires funds, facilitation doesnt.
are SSD to report back to court to inform the courts decision about future contact and residency?
Court may have referred the case to SSD for the reasons outlined above and if so, they will want SSD to carry out what is called 'an investigation into a child's circumstance'.
under this order, SSD have to monitor and supervise the contact in order to assess, BUT theres nothing stopping the solicitors agreeing that their clients fund the supervision by an agency, such as barnardoes or the NSPCC and report back to the SW doing the report for court
you need to get some more details from your friend0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 352K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.5K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 454.2K Spending & Discounts
- 245K Work, Benefits & Business
- 600.6K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.4K Life & Family
- 258.8K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards