Hello everyone,
I could really use some advise if possible,
I received my contact order in September 2017, from then to now I have been collecting my son alternative Saturdays and Sunday's, since getting this contact order I was unable to continue working as my job required me to be flexible over the weekends, since losing my job I have not had any form of income. In October I received a letter via the post saying my son's mother has contacted the child support maintenance and I now have to make weekly payments of £52 a week as calculated from my previous tax year, I have spoken to them and now have that sorted after I explained I'm not working but I do want to provide so I have been searching for work, I have now got an offer for work, however Its on a Rota basis of 4 on 4 off which means I can't commit to it as I have to pick up my son on the weekend, is there anyway I can get the court order changed to accommodate me working?
I have to work to live and provide but I can't work because I have no flexibility on the weekends, my mother's son will not let me see him unless it's my day and is making me stick to the court order very strictly, I have tried to explain my situation to her but she doesn't want to hear me out at all.
Help me please
Hi
Yes, you always have the option to go back to court to get the order varied - you may be able to reopen the existing case as it's not that long since you got the last order, but I'm not certain about this - hopefully someone with more knowledge in this area will confirm or correct this.
A court will generally be practical around work, as long as it is possible to do so (in other words, it has to be reasonably practical for your ex also) so I would say it's definitely worth doing so.
If s a pity you didn't draw the courts attention to your flexible working weekends when the existing order was finalised, I'm sure they would have written the flexibility into the order.... never mind.
You have options, you can leave it as it is and arrange a child minder whilst you're at work, or you can apply to have the order varied to accommodate your shift pattern.
In the first instance you could try writing directly to the judge that made the order in September and explain what has happened and ask if they would consider returning the case to court to make adjustments. As actd said, they do have discretionary powers to do just that. However they will often just advise you to make a fresh application, but it's worth a try.
Before you can make another application, you would first need to try mediation to see if you can't reach agreement, if this fails then the mediator can sign the C100 form to enable you to make an application.
If you are time limited and need to get it changed because of the job offer, you can apply for an urgent order to vary, with urgent applications you don't need to have tried mediation first. You would need form C100. And it would cost £215 to submit the application, however if you are unemployed you can apply for an exemption from the court fee and you would need form EX160 to do that.
All the best
Hi all im going court on the 15/02/18 for a contact order i have sent the court photos of messages that ive tried everything in my power to see my kids i do have a trial coming up as my ex accused me of assult which im garenteed a not guilty verdict as kent police took one side of the story which my solicitor has told me is a nationwide problem the female actually hitting the male and getting away with it what ca i expect as no seen my kids in seven months thank-you .