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Hi
Im looking for advice with regards to my brother in law. His wife left him last summer because of his behaviour (which I dont really want to go into) and is in the process of divorcing him. The 3 kids who are living with their mother who has moved home. To start with she let my brother in law see the kids quite regularly but for about the last 6 months he hasnt been able to see them at all. Where does he stand with regards access to his kids. I thought she would have to take him to court to get a conjunction order on him to prevent him seeing the kids? Is this true or does she have the right to stop him from seeing them without going to court?
Also she seems to be calling all the shots with regards to their finances- first she said she wanted a 60/40 split of the sale of their house- now she says she wants 100% of the sale. Can she do this or is it down to the courts to decide?
My brother in law has appointed a solicitor but doesnt seem to be getting any answers or advice from them but I do feel that he is very confused with what they are telling him
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Rich
In simple terms, the courts decide but his behaviour and the children's welfare affect how the courts make their decision.
If your Brother-in-law isn't getting answers from his solicitor, then he needs to tell his solicitor to explain the process carefully, and expected/possible outcomes (and he needs to be completely honest with his solicitor so there are no surprises along the way). If he can't get this from his solicitor, then he may need to change to a new one.
Hi Richyg,
Welcome to the forum, Thanks for your question - I will get our legal experts to cast their eye over this and repond for you.
Cheers
Gooner
Dear Rich,
We apologise for the delay in responding to your query.
No parent has any right to contact with their children; it is children who have a right to see their parents. If the children are not old enough to make decision for themselves (absolutely at 16 years old) then it will be for the resident parent to decide what is best for the children, and they would have the right to control all contact.
A resident parent should make decisions based on what they believe to be best for the children in question, and should normally allow reasonable contact, but it is their decision to make and they are not committing an offence by stopping all contact.
If your brother in law is not happy with the contact that he is being allowed, then the first step is to always suggest mediation to try and agree on contact. The contact number for National Family Mediation is 01392 271610.
If mediation is not successful or the mother refuses to attend, then the other option your brother in law has is to seek a court order for contact, which his solicitor will be able to advise him on.
To seek a contact order this would have to be done separately to any divorce proceedings, as the Arrangement for Children in your divorce is not legally binding and can not be enforced if the mother does not abide by it.
The court will hear all the circumstances and will decide whether or not to grant your brother in law a contact order. In the vast majority of cases contact is awarded, as long as it is safe for the children to have contact.
With regards to the financial situation, we can not advise on this as we only offer advice on matters of child law, however if your brother in law contests the mother’s proposals the court would make the decisions as to what should happen, and his solicitor should be able to advise him on this.
We hope that this information is useful to you, should you require further advice please contact the Child Law Advice Line on 0808 8020 008 and an advisor will be happy to help.
Kind Regards
Children’s Legal Centre
- Samaritans – call 116 123
- Shout – text the word ‘Shout’ to 85258
