Prohibited Steps Orders - Any experiences?

ses6jwg

Hello all.

Just after a quick bit of advice really.

Situation is I have a 4 1/2 year old daughter who I care for every other weekend and half of all school holidays. I had hoped this level of contact would increase as she gets older.

Just found out that her mother is planning on swapping a council house with someone in another city about 5 hours drive away. I do not know why this is, it is not related to work as she does not work and has no close relatives in that area.

I live in the same town as my daughter, 5 minutes walk in fact, as does her maternal grandfather and grandmother, my Mum and Dad (her parental grandparents) as well as her two aunties and all her extended family on my side.

She has been going to school here including nursery for about 2 years and has also made some friends.

I have read about applying for a prohibited steps order, but apparantly the chances of success are very low within the UK is this correct?

I am very worried and deeply saddended that this could be happening as I could not afford the travelling either physically or financially every other weekend.

Any help appreciated.

l33na

Sorry no direct experience of this but if you have a contact order then the solicitor can get the courts to look into this. I know of one family that have moved away but a revised contact order had to be agreed... (was due to work and to be near her fam though).
Also on the other side recently a friend has not been able to move as a prohibeted step was already in place(she's from eu) and want to move away for area.

gettingthere1975

I had a prohibited steps order, i think you may be able to apply to the court to try and stop her from moving, it does seem strange that she is leaving all her family and friends tho?

clearingout

what did she work as before having children? or do you know what field she would like to work in? is there any more likelihood of her working in the new area than in the old? (a move north-south, for example, is likely to yield more work regardless of what field you work in).


I would try a Prohibited Steps Order as it makes no logical sense she should move 5 hours away, as a single parent, to have no support whatsoever. You will probably get your Order in the short term and the courts/CAFCASS will investigate. You are right in thinking that a court is unlikely to stop her long term but at least getting the courts to look at it and see if the move is reasonable means you've done everything you can.

Have you had a problem with contact in the past? is she supportive of you having a relationship with your child?

clearingout

oh, are you sure there's no new partner?

ses6jwg

clearingout wrote: »

what did she work as before having children? or do you know what field she would like to work in? is there any more likelihood of her working in the new area than in the old? (a move north-south, for example, is likely to yield more work regardless of what field you work in).


I would try a Prohibited Steps Order as it makes no logical sense she should move 5 hours away, as a single parent, to have no support whatsoever. You will probably get your Order in the short term and the courts/CAFCASS will investigate. You are right in thinking that a court is unlikely to stop her long term but at least getting the courts to look at it and see if the move is reasonable means you've done everything you can.

Have you had a problem with contact in the past? is she supportive of you having a relationship with your child?

No she has not been supportive, I already have a contact order in place after great expense. She makes things as difficult as possible for me to have contact.

clearingout wrote: »

oh, are you sure there's no new partner?

She has a new partner, however she is 22 and on benefits, apart from the odd bit of house cleaning she does not work.

Her "bf" is 17 and is still in college.

She has pretty much been made a social pariah via this relationship and when it was discovered she was using cocaine up until around 12 months ago, I know most of her old friends no longer have contact with her.

I suspect that she wants to move to "start afresh" however I feel that this is not in our daughters interests only hers.

daska

Give FNF a ring - 0300 0300 363

They'll have a good idea what your next move should be.

Best of luck

puddy

the prohibited step would apply to the child, so the only outcome would be that the order would specify that the child cannot move. if mother still wants to move (unlikely without the child) then you would still need to vary the contact order

is this 5 hours driving or on public transport?

is the child at nursery, have a friends network, extended family like paternal and maternal grandparents?

this would all form part of the assessment but at the end of the day people do move and children do adapt. however, you may use your previous experience (if evidenced) that mother makes it difficult for you to see the child, to say that this move is designed to prevent the child continuing to have a full relationship with you as contact now is likely to be more infrequent, albeit for longer periods of time ie, a week here, a week there sort of thing

ultimately, as long as the contact order can be varied, you can still sustain the relationship, mother will need to say how she intends to enable that relationship fo rthe child, are there cost implications involved? who is going to pay for the travel costs for the child to maintain this relationship

once she starts school, you wont be able to see her realistically outside school holidays unless its for weekends

a change of school or nursery needs consultation by you if you have PR, she cant really do this without that, but will probably try

so your choice is, prohibited steps to stop the move, residency so the child lives with you or work out new contact order (or by consent)

squirrelchops

Prohibited Steps Order aside - I consider it very odd she is doing (or able to do) a council house swap with someone 5 hours away in another town.

I thought councils or local authority housing associations had their 'bundle' of housing options and you had to swap within that organisation.

Maybe someone can give advice if what OP''s ex is doing is even feasible.

puddy

of course its feasible?

if its a housing !!!, they may be nationwide, and i think that you can do council swaps nationwide too, why wouldnt you?

eta -that should say housing association

kj*daisy

Yes it is, you can exchange with someone outside the area. OP would you be able to go for full residency with you as it does sound like it may be in your daughters best interests not to be moved away from her extended family. Good luck.