Update and question about CAFCASS

speedster

LizzieS wrote: »

You need a very good reason to fail attending court.

She has had the relevant notice - plenty of time to make arrangements with her employer. BTW employers are below the court

He should attend and ask for a penal notice attached (surprised speedster did not suggest that). The penal notice will give a very clear message to both her and her employer - if she fails to attend the next date set by the court, she can be arrested and detained until a later hearing.

The letter may help reduce the wrath of the judge when he/she finally sees her (better than just not showing up), but it should also contain her acceptances or objections to OHs request - solicitor will make sure judge is aware of her lack of progressing the case even in letter form!

Your OH is there for himself and what he wants - he needs to show he is desperate to progress, rather than giving in to any excuse.

a couple of points.

dunno what country you're in, but people wont be banged up till a hearing in a county court case.

secondly, the reason i haven't mentioned a penal notice is that you have to have an order in place and documented cases of persistent flouting of the order before you can even contemplate applying for one.

it's very dangerous to post advice when it is wildly incorrect. it doesn't take much to throw a case the wrong way.

the family courts are draconian to say the least, and any man who ventures into that arena has to appear whiter than white or he'll get trounced.

and frankly, some of the advice being offered here is criminal.

Loopy_Girl

maggied wrote: »

she works in the NHS so again would be surprised if they had refused a request for time off.

I work for the NHS. Don't be surprised;)

daska

It's very simple. Your OH's ex will have received paperwork from the court including the details of the application, any supplementary information and a form which has to be filled in and returned to the court which asks questions such as 'do you oppose the application' and 'do you need help attending the court due to disability. All she has to do to ask for an adjournment is state in writing why she is asking, provide evidence if at all possible. She can't necessarily stop the hearing, though if she makes the request the paperwork will go to the judge to order an adjournment prior to the hearing taking place IF POSSIBLE! If she doesn't turn up and doesn't send a representative and doesn't contact the court and satisfy them then the judge orders what happens next, whether that be an adjournment, referral to the court reporter or even an order for contact / PR. By not turning up the ex is denying herself the opportunity to influence events.

But remember, the ex might be hoping that she's playing the game in such a way that your OH chooses not to turn up.

My OH will be representing himself to oppose the application his ex has just made, but we've already been through the mill of a 2.9 year residency/contact battle so we know the ropes. It really isn't as daunting as you might suppose. We even have nice friendly chats with the ex's solicitor when we feel like pointing out that he's working on a completely inaccurate premise (e.g. basing the application on an order that's 15 months out of date, it was so friendly he didn't even feel the need to speak when we told him that one LOL)

LizzieS_2

speedster wrote: »

a couple of points.

dunno what country you're in, but people wont be banged up till a hearing in a county court case.

secondly, the reason i haven't mentioned a penal notice is that you have to have an order in place and documented cases of persistent flouting of the order before you can even contemplate applying for one.

it's very dangerous to post advice when it is wildly incorrect. it doesn't take much to throw a case the wrong way.

the family courts are draconian to say the least, and any man who ventures into that arena has to appear whiter than white or he'll get trounced.

and frankly, some of the advice being offered here is criminal.

It is from experience Speedster of going through the system (well my partner has). A penal notice was attached after just one failure to attend, so yes the information I posted is correct.

speedster

after 1 failure to attend, all you would get is a stinking letter demanding you appear.

an enforcement or penal order cannot be attatched as there is no order to attatch it to.

LizzieS_2

speedster wrote: »

after 1 failure to attend, all you would get is a stinking letter demanding you appear.

an enforcement or penal order cannot be attatched as there is no order to attatch it to.

Speedster, with due respect, a penal notice was given to our pwc with the next date they issued. Court was an English one and was for a Contact Order.

She knew how to play the system, but court appearances amounted to either 3 or 4 before the Contact Order was given.

speedster

with all due respect to you too, but you are mistaken.

the letter would have said something along the lines of "held accountable for costs" or made to undertake community service" or "will be summondsed" "failure to appear could result in arrest" etc, etc

but i can assure you, it was NOT a penal notice. for starters you have to file a separate form for enforcement of an order. a C78. and for that form to be filed, you have to actually have an order in place.

there is no way a penal notice would be attatched for 1 no show. snotty letter yes, penal notice. no.

period. end of. not possible. never happen. impossible etc, etc

speedster

quote.

If you have a contact order that was made before 8 December 2008 you may apply for a warning notice to be attached to the contact order.
A warning notice explains that if a person does not comply with the contact order the court may fine or imprison them for contempt of court, or may make an enforcement order or an order for financial compensation.
You cannot apply for an enforcement order or for financial compensation regarding any person’s failure to comply with the contact order if this failure took place before that person had been given a copy of the order with the warning notice attached or informed of the terms of the warning notice.

================================

that's off the form. you would never get it automatically cos of 1 no show.

speedster

mind you, i don't know why i'm bothering to clarify this as you also seem to think they'll arrest and detain a respondent till the next hearing.

your lack of knowledge in this area is quite frightening and i hope th OP realises this before taking your advice on board.

LizzieS_2

speedster wrote: »

mind you, i don't know why i'm bothering to clarify this as you also seem to think they'll arrest and detain a respondent till the next hearing.

your lack of knowledge in this area is quite frightening and i hope th OP realises this before taking your advice on board.

You've read my words wrong - what I said was if she doesn't turn up on 23rd, the court can make an order forcing her to attend the next one (say 23rd January). If she then doesn't show on 23 January without good reason (eg a patient in hospital) then the court can decide to arrest and detain her (emphasis being it is in the courts power).

Our pwc was getting very good help at how to play the system, but even she didn't mess with that one.

I agree with you on not needing a solicitor, but it has to be down to personal choice and experience (not everyone is like you or has circumstances like you). I disagree with your comments about solicitors being leeches - ours certainly did tell us which hearings did not need their presence (and additional fee).

For Maggieds OH, the best he can achieve is a contempt of court warning going out with the next hearing date, but he only stands a chance of that by choosing to attend himself.