Father applying for sole custody - advice please...

spacegirlfive

Can anyone provide a bit of legal advice?
My brother-in-law is the sole carer for his four year-old daughter. He was never married to the mother, but they split up when the daughter was about a year old and soon afterwards the mother met another man and moved to the other end of the country with him. She didn't want him to find out she had a daughter (and as far as I know still doesn't). She has now had no contact with her daughter for over two years, apart from a half hour visit - while she was on her lunch break - 18 months ago. She doesn't ask after her daughter or send Christmas or birthday cards. Her own parents have disowned her because of her treatment of their granddaughter.
My brother-in-law does his best for her, with a little help from my mother-in-law. He can only take a part-time job because of childcare costs, and because his daughter is not in school yet. He doesn't really have money for solicitors and nobody in the family is in a position to help him financially.
So my question is, how does he go about applying for sole custody? He wants to make sure that the mother cannot appear (however unlikely) and take off with his daughter simply because she IS the mother. His name is on the birth certificate in case that is useful to anyone offering advice.
Thank you...

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

He needs to see a solicitor specialising in Family Law to help him get a Residence Order made in his favour.

I can't imagine the mother objecting as that could mean the partner finding out about the child.



Poor kid, though - at least she's got one parent caring about her.

Poppie68

He can apply to the courts for a residential order to start with..that at least will give him recourse to get her back after any access visit (if there is any). Going to court though will be costly and legal aid most probably wont be an option for him and getting a residential order will most probably be quicker and cheaper to start with.

Voyager2002

Under the circumstances I don't think he will need a solicitor...

He should visit his local County Court, pick up the forms and ask the officials there for a basic explanation of the process. It should be fairly straightforward: the fact that his name is on the birth certificate is important and means that legally he has 'parental responsibility'; under the circumstances it will be obvious to the court that granting a residence order makes sense, and no-one would be opposing that.

Since he is on a low income it is probable that he will be granted exemption from court fees: he should ask for a leaflet explaining this.

Poppie68

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Under the circumstances I don't think he will need a solicitor...

He should visit his local County Court, pick up the forms and ask the officials there for a basic explanation of the process. It should be fairly straightforward: the fact that his name is on the birth certificate is important and means that legally he has 'parental responsibility'; under the circumstances it will be obvious to the court that granting a residence order makes sense, and no-one would be opposing that.

Since he is on a low income it is probable that he will be granted exemption from court fees: he should ask for a leaflet explaining this.

Thanks...i forgot a RO can be done directly with the courts..sorry OP

spacegirlfive

Thank you everyone - this is all most useful.
I don't think the mother actually wants any access so that won't be a problem; it's mainly to formalise legally, get the name changed and allow for the fact that as the mother, there *would* always be a slight chance that she could turn up unexpectedly and simply take her daughter away.

RAS

Name changes require the written permission of the mother; a residency order does not permit them automatically.

spacegirlfive

RAS wrote: »

Name changes require the written permission of the mother; a residency order does not permit them automatically.

Thanks RAS