Child access - county court - what to expect?

silkyuk9

Hello, looking for advice and some help regarding a upcoming county court hearing regarding child access. Im approaching 50 and possibly lucky enough to say ive never stood in a court in my life so not sure what to expect here. I'm hoping I get some replies from people who have gone through this situation.

Ok, son and ex are in a battle. ex is being very difficult to let son see his child who is around a year and half old.

The first step we took was inform a solicitor who wrote her a letter regarding mediation, the letter was ignored so £600 later the solicitor has now wrote to county court for a hearing I suppose.

What happens in court when im sure my son will be called along with his family and the ex and her family. All my son wants is reasonable access and the messing around to stop.

Ok, now the legal peson. As the court will be around 120 miles from our home, it will be closer to the ex home, do we really need to be paying a solicitor £160 per hour and 50p per mile? As there is no legal aid for this instance I am paying the bill but after 1 letter and a letter to the court the bill has topped £600 to date and we are not at court yet. So if a solicitor is not needed maybe we could call time on this part for the hearing, I do not know as ive never been here before.

Ok, back to the court. What will happen? what will be discussed? How do we address the judge? (I expect there will be a judge there) sorry for being ignorant to the court proceedures, just never been in a law court before.

Any help or advice is appreciated.

Seanymph

When I went with my ex boyfriend only him and his ex wife were allowed in the court.

he had a solicitor and she didn't, and he would have won.

I think if you are serious you need your solicitor to be there - but I dont' think 'his family and 'her family' will be involved at all if my experirence is anything to go by.

The judge met with the two parents, then ordered reports.

lindsaygalaxy

Ok, the first thing is there is no win or lose for parents in this - it is about the child and I say this as someone that gets dragged through the court by my ex.

You do not need a solicitor - it is a waste of money unless you have a complex case.

Your son needs to be realistic about the case at the childs age - especially as it seems you live quite a distance. Does he see the child at all at the moment? If nothe should start by asking for short visits - supervised so the child can get used to him.Then unsupervised, then move on to overnights - gradually. Eventually short stays in the holidays.

This is how mine has gone so far -
1 - go into a room to see a judge. Only parents allowed. Sides give a brief account of what they want. She asks a couple of questions. They like you to go to mediation and infact sent us to some while there to try work it out. Position statement ordered.

2 - swap documents.

3 - court room with a general solicitor. Sent into rooms to again try sort it out without a judge (which we did). Review date for 6 months set.

fluffnutter

You don't need a solicitor at all. But you do need to be confident that you know your responsibilities and that you can present your case in a calm way. If this is simply about access then I should imagine it will be fairly straightforward. Courts will try to ensure that the non-resident parent has quality access (provided that's in the child's interests of course).

BTW, I say 'you' but obviously I mean your son. This isn't actually anything to do with you although I appreciate you're concerned for both your son and your grandchild.

silkyuk9

Thats good that I really do not need to pay for a solicitor to travel 120 miles there and back at £160 per hour and 50p per mile.

Its only regarding child access. Before the split we had the little un at ours no problems for the week etc on many occasions. As things have become difficult we feel the need to get the court involved so we are not getting messed about plus my son wants to see his son on a regular basis. Obviously we live around 150 miles from our grand child so its impossible to have a few hours access as you cannot just take a little one for a walk in the winter. There was no problems or issues the little one coming to his grandparents for a week at a time and this is what we want to continue. As our son is now at home there are plenty of people when off work to look after him. Its a sad going on but untypical.

squirrelchops

Your son could have got this into court for £215 off his own bat by filling in a C100 form......this is all your solicitor has done but has charged you for the pleasure of them doing this.

Anyway, you live and learn.

At the hearing will be a CAFCASS representative (children and family court advisory and support services). They will make necessary safeguarding checks with the Local Authority (to check no child protection issues that the Judge needs to be aware of) then will give their opinion to the Judge.

If things can't be agreed on the day then CAFCASS may be requested to complete a Section 7 report to help inform the Judge. The Judge may well also request mediation goes ahead and I have known them to get dates set up there and then.

krok

I have been going to court for the last 2 years over contact issues.

It should be finalised next week i hope.

If there are no issues with domestic violence or abuse then i would not recomend a solicitor.

The first hearing will be just a half hour summary. You give your point of view, they give theirs. Only parents allowed in court.

The judge will then give directions. He can order mediation, anger management, cafcass report and will tell the couple to get it sorted.

He will then make an appointment for the next hearing to see how it is going.

If at that stage there is still no agreement then he will make another appointment for a final hearing. This is where both parties make their case to the judge and he will make the final decision.

It would be better for everyone if it could be sorted out at mediation as it is all a lot of worry and cost for all parties.

silkyuk9

krok wrote: »

I have been going to court for the last 2 years over contact issues.

It should be finalised next week i hope.

If there are no issues with domestic violence or abuse then i would not recomend a solicitor.

The first hearing will be just a half hour summary. You give your point of view, they give theirs. Only parents allowed in court.

The judge will then give directions. He can order mediation, anger management, cafcass report and will tell the couple to get it sorted.

He will then make an appointment for the next hearing to see how it is going.

If at that stage there is still no agreement then he will make another appointment for a final hearing. This is where both parties make their case to the judge and he will make the final decision.

It would be better for everyone if it could be sorted out at mediation as it is all a lot of worry and cost for all parties.

So when this goes to court, is there any other fees to pay? Court costs etc??

krok

silkyuk9 wrote: »

So when this goes to court, is there any other fees to pay? Court costs etc??

The only fees are the court costs you pay at the start. There could be other costs if any other reports are ordered like medical records etc. But if its just a straight forward contact case then there should be no other costs,

silkyuk9

krok wrote: »

The only fees are the court costs you pay at the start. There could be other costs if any other reports are ordered like medical records etc. But if its just a straight forward contact case then there should be no other costs,

So if I have had to pay £400 for this and letters were sent to the court, how would inform the other party? Would she get a solicitor letter or just a order from the court? Also is there any costs for her too, if I have had to pay £400 which could have gone to the grandchild for his development I see it being very unfair as we arent the ones causing the problems.

FBaby

Is it about YOU gaining access or your son? Your making it more about you than him, many 'we' rather than 'him'. Does he have no access at all? What is it that the mother is refusing? That he comes a week at a time? How will you feel if access is granted, but your son is expect to go there to see his child? Does he work? Does he pay maintenance? Only asking because it can be expected she comes up with a number of reason why she thinks whatever you want is unacceptable. He needs to be prepared to challenge these reasons.