No contact with childrens father

mrsspendalot

Also, she may be interested in the following re PR applications by the biological father:

Section 4 of the Children Act does not stipulate the criteria which a father must meet in order to be given parental responsibility but just before the Children Act came into force in 1991 the Court of Appeal decision in Re H (Illegitimate Children: Parental Rights) dealt with this matter and since then the following factors have remained central to any decision:

a) That the status of the birth father is not in dispute.

b) The degree of commitment which the father has shown towards the child (this can be illustrated by financial support, pursuing contact and keeping arrangements, present at birth, having one's name on the birth certificate, involvement in child's education etc).

c) The degree of attachment existing between the father and the child (naturally a father of a very young child may have had less opportunity to develop this).

d) The reasons for the father's application (to weed out applications made solely to be obstructive or disruptive since the overwhelming number of applications will be made for genuine motives).

e) Any other relevant factors.
http://www.fnf.org.uk/law-and-information/parental-responsibility

This gives some information on the type of factors the court would consider if he did apply for PR. No contact for 3 years, no maintenance payments, and not being on the birth certificate won't look favourable on him.

I hope this puts your friend's mind at ease a little.

I got quite stressed about PR years ago with my eldest child, as her dad doesn't have PR and at the time he was being really awkward. I had visions of him applying for PR and using it to argue with me over every decision regarding her, such as saying he wanted her at a different school etc. I worried for nothing as he still, 9 years on, has never even mentioned PR and we get on fine now.

Danni-R

Thanks,

I'm glad it all got sorted out for you. I dont think the youngest (5 or 6) remembers the dad. The eldest might but they've both taken to the husband and call him dad.

a) there is no doubt that he is the biological father
b) he was present at their bith and lived with them for about a year and a bit after the youngest was born but then the violence started etc and he left. He's had no imput in their education or well being.
c) I'd be surprised if they remember him in al honesty. Even when they were seperated and he had them for a short time he favoured one over the other which caused problems.
d) I think if he was to make contact it'd just be to cause problems and be vindictive.

Thanks for all your help. Hopefully she'll be able to see what her options are.