Update and question about CAFCASS

marksoton

maggied wrote: »

So OH has two options:

1. Turn up for the hearing and pay the court costs which he will then apply to the court to have met by the X. The court will then demand that she turns up for the next hearing.

2. Apply for another hearing. However she could obviously just do the same again.

Careful, maybe later on take this course of action. Your OH wants to appear whiter than white not vengeful.

speedster

maggied wrote: »

So do you think OH would be better off going to court and have them demand that she turns up for a second hearing?
What do you think the chances of her having to pay the costs would be?

And what's LIP? You seem to know a lot about this - can you point me in the direction of where I could find this info?

see what the solicitor makes of her letter first. no point in him turning up and charging you £600 if she aint gonna show.

LIP is litigant in pperson, basically, representing yourself. it's easier than you'd think, plus you can get away with stuff solicitors cant. :rolleyes:

maggied_2

She definitely isn't going to show. OH needs to let court know by tomorrow whether he wants to go ahead - it will cost OH £250 if they do show but he's considering paying it just so that the court will demand her presence at a second date. If he cancels the date then they start again and she could turn down the next date, and the next etc.

She carried on again the other night - returning DD back at 10.45 at night instead of 8 when she was supposed to (basically because after doing the activity they were doing she took DD back home so she could get changed and then wait for a taxi to take her to the pub across the road from ours....).

We just wants to resolve this quickly and need to make a desicion on the court date today - do we turn up knowing that she won't or just apply for another date?

speedster

contact the court first thing tomorrow and see what they say.

it's likely that they'll write to her "requesting" her presence. don't worry, they're used to stalling tactics and believe it or not, this will all go in your favour as she's showing her true colours before she even sets foot in the court arena.

her card will be marked from the off, which is exactly where you want to be from the start.

daska

Let's put her behaviour in perspective... if she had good reason for not turning up she could have informed her solicitor and s/he would have applied to the court for an adjournment. So, we can 'assume' that either she has no good reason or that she is playing games. It may be that she has every intention of turning up but has been adamant that she won't in an attempt to dissuade your OH from continuing with the court action.

Attend as planned.

*** You are keeping a detailed diary aren't you!? ***

maggied_2

OH is leaning towards turning up regardlesss. Although he will have to pay costs for that day it could work out cheaper than paying his solicitor everytime he has to write to X when she delays.

ETA - she isn't using a solicitor. Her mum (who's an accountant) seems to be helping out.

speedster

you wont have to pay costs. you've filed the forms and paid, that's it now until it's resolved.

also, if she isn't using a solicitor then she's gonna stall, write hundreds of letters which YOU will get charged for the sol to reply too.

trust me, you're in for a rinsing. ditch the leech before it costs you thousands for naff all.

also, if you uuse a sol and she isn't, she'll get the sympathy of the court as she'll be the underdog.

please at least look into going LIP. you'll save yourself thousands and probably get a better result.

and phone the court in the morning to see about rescheduling. you're wrong if you think it'll look good by turning up when she has already said she cant make it. it'll look like a point scoring exercise.

maggied_2

OH will have to pay the solicitors costs thought won't he? LIP isn't an option we're going to use. There are good reasons for this which I won't go into - but it won't be happening. It's great it's worked for you but it isn't for us.

I see what you're saying about her looking like the underdog - however I would hope that this would be counterbalanced by the fact that OH isn't going for any more access than he currently gets and has always seen his DD a lot. The whole reason for him seeing a solicitor is that she has left him no option.

I do see that this could go on for a long time if she keeps stalling which could work out as very expensive. Which is why OH wants to go to court this week so that the court will demand she turns up for the next hearing because she's turned down this one.

However if you think that it will look bad if he shows up then maybe we shouldn't - but then there's no end to it is there? How many times can she refuse to show up?

speedster

up to you really.

TBH you've been given some sound advice which you are choosing not to take on board. i really couldn't say how your case is going to progress.

what i do know is, the course you are on is going to be long, possibly not as sucessful as you think it will and expensive. i think you don't realise just how morally corrupt solicitors are for starters.

throw in the slack she's gonna get for going LIP and you're in for a rough ride.

maggied_2

Speedster - I do really appreciate your advice - it's just that OH representing himself isn't an option.

There are plenty of people who do use family solicitors for this exact issue and I suppose I was hoping that someone with experience of this could point us in the right direction.

Are the courts so incapable of objectivity that they would 'mark down' a father trying to ensure he sees his child? If they're so likely to be affected by that then surely there's no point in turning up anyway