[Solved] Advice on moving children away

Also, since the announcement, I have had the children every weekend, and she gets them to go to my mum's house after schol on a Friday so she can leave for the weekend at lunchtime, then has been sending me a message on a Sunday asking for me to keep them another night and she will collect them in the morning so she can stay an extra night, despite knowing that it is inconvenient for me as until next month I live in a mate's flat so when I have the girls, they sleep in my room while I sleep on the sofa - Monday mornings, he goes to work 6am and he feels he can't get ready as he normally would because I am in the lounge - sounds small I know, but I have lived there for a while, and she knows the deal and yet she still tries to move the goalposts and make me look bad for saying no (although I kept them this weekend because I'm fed up with her messing about)

Hi and welcome 🙂

...I have to go out but have a look at this ~

www.thecustodyminefield.com/Factsheets/QuickGuide/-PSO-PR.pdf

As you feel that this may be happening imminently it might be best to go for an Emergency Prohibited Steps Order through the court.
I will be back later and will talk to you in a bit more detail and offer some more advice.

That link doesnt seem to be working here, I did check it so it might be better to type it in manually. Its just a brief checklist of what you need to do to get an Emergency Prohibited Steps Order in motion....if you cant get the link I'll talk you through it when I get back.

Hi there,

Did you manage to have a look at the link?

If you feel you only have until the weekend before your ex moves away, then the only option open to you is court I'm afraid.

Were you and the ex married, and are you on the birth certificates? If you were unmarried then you will also have to apply for Parental Responsibility.

The children are of an age where they will be asked how they feel. There are some issues here that are important to the childrens well being....Moving them away from you and their families, taking them out of school and expecting them to move in with a relative stranger...all of these issues will impact negatively on them. I feel that you would be listened to and could expect that an order to prevent her from removing the children would be put in place, at least in the interim.

If you decide that you are prepared to go to court all you need to do is download C100 and PR forms (you will only need the PR form if you were not married), fill them in and take them to your nearest family court. It will cost £200. Ideally try to get to the court at 9am and when you hand them in to the courts administration department you will need to tell them that you are making an Emergency Prohibited Steps Order and need the case to be heard today. Photocopy everything in triplicate.

Thats it briefly...let us know what you decide to do and we can help with the filling in of the forms. It is also advisable to hand a position statement in with the forms explaining the situation to the judge, why you think the PSO is required and you can make the judge aware of any matters which you feel are important...for example the children not wanting to go, schooling, the fact that they dont know your ex's new partner etc.

Hi,

I cannot get into the link at all - I have tried manually typing but the best I can get is the homepage :unsure:

I am seeing a solicitor tomorrow who will hopefully be able to help me with this, we weren't married and unfortunately (as is always the case) I wasn't aware of the parental responsibility thing until a few days ago, and there is no chance for me to get her to sign that now - I dare say she has already made her own investigations into what I can and can't have a say on in the eyes of the law at this moment in time.

Hi there,

I more or less covered what was on the factsheet in my previous post.

Its a matter of filling in those forms and getting them into court ASAP....as you are seeing a solicitor they will do this for you but it will cost, unless you are unemployed or on a low income, and then you will be entitled to Legal Aid. This may hold things up whilst the Legal Aid is granted. With my son, he needed to get to court fast over Residency and he hadnt got his Legal Aid through fast enough so I paid the initial £500 for representation in court.

If you take a look at the stickys at the top of the Legal Eagle section, one is titled Contact Order C100Guide and the other is Guide to Representing Yourself in Court. There's some really good information in both, wether you are representing yourself or not. It will give you an idea what the C100 form will ask and some tips on how to fill it in. As I said, you can apply for PR at the same time as the PSO.

Time really is of the essence here...It would be advisable to write your position statement and take that to the solicitors with you so that they have it to hand. Keep all the communication from your ex... txts and emails and write down any conversations you've had concerning your children with dates and times if possible. It will give the court an overview, hopefully you havent been abusive towards her in txts so she wont be able to use this against you. You must always come across as calm and balanced and reasonable towards your ex. The court is only interested in what is best for the children, and thats the position you should take.

Sorry about putting an unusable link in, it works for me when I type it in but never mind as it only covered what Is in my posts anyway.

Good luck with everything.

Very helpful,

Thank You very much - I think I will have to go the private paid route unfortunately, but that really isn't the issue here. Once I have some sort of an update I will pass on my experiences to hopefully help others in this situation.

...No worries...dont forget to mention about all the extra time you have been having the girls lately and the short notice you have been given. Also the fact that the ex had refused to discuss it with you, even though the girls are distressed about it. Clearly putting her own feelings ahead of the childrens.

I wouldn't talk about the inconvenience to your flatmate or give any indication that the accomodation you are in might be unsuitable in that respect. I get the impression you are moving into your own place next month, if thats the case, would the girls have their own room? I only ask because its better if you cover all eventualities, one of which might be that the girls ask to live with you if the ex is determined to move to be with her new partner....just a thought. 🙂

Hi

Assuming you have no solicitor, I would give CCLC a call in the morning (link is at the bottom of the website) and they will give free legal advice. If your ex is moving for a genuine reason (ie, not to prevent contact) then the courts don't usually prevent the move. However, it does seem that you might have the opportunity to apply for residence, so it would be worth asking the CCLC about an interim order. Your children are around the age where their views will be considered - there's no guarantee of success, but it could be worth trying.

Have a read of yoji's guide to representing yourself (top of the legal eagle section) so you can start preparing.