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Hi, I have a Interim contact order in place for my daughter in which i have contact with my daughter every other weekend sat am to sunday pm and half of the school holidays, i have also applied for a shared residency order, and for the mother to do half of the travelling for contact.
the final hearing for conatct order and shared residence order is March 2010.
my ex g/f still refuses to communicate with me on any level since the split 2 years ago we have both been told to attend a parenting skills course in order to try and improve communication.
my ex moved away back to her parents when we split which is 85 miles each way making a 340 mile round trip for me per contact period to collect saturday and return sunday she refuses to do any travelling although she has a car and i have offered to pay all of her travel costs.
The problem now is i do not have a car i have written to my ex and her solicitor outlining my situation and that my only option now to maintain fortnightly contact i will have to use the train to collect my daughter which turns my previous 7 hours car journey for the complete weekend into a 13 hour train journey, the train timings from my end on a sunday mean i would have to leave my town 1 pm for a 5 pm return (as per interim order)of my daughter to her town and my return home would not be untill 10pm! which is unmanageable, therefore i have asked for my ex's co'operation in order to keep our daughters alternative contact weekends unaffected in her doing the collection journey again i have offered to pay all her travel costs and only ask for a investment of her time not for me but for our daughter.
I do not expect she will reply and in the event she does not, would i be able to apply for speciffic issue order so that she does do one of the journeys? or is there any other action i could take?
Many Thanks
Hi MRKCOO,
Welcome. Thanks for posting here at DadTalk.
It certainly takes you a lot of time and energy when you go to contacts with your daughter.
We have access to legal experts and I will ask them to look at the situation you've described.
This can take them a couple of days, but you will see their reply posted directly here in your thread.
Regards
littleocean
Dear MRKCOO
It appears that you have already applied to the court to vary the existing contact order.
In a situation where circumstances have changed since the original order was made then it is most appropriate to apply to the court to have the order varied. Therefore, you have already made the most appropriate application to the court. It is possible for you to apply to the court for a specific issue order however the judge is likely to revert back to the hearing which is listed for March of next year as this is to address contact issues.
Unfortunately, the courts are very busy and every applicant considers that their application is important therefore there is no fast track system in place. However, it may be possible to write to the court explaining your circumstances and request that the proceedings are moved forward.
In the meantime, we would recommend continuing to write to your ex-partner’s solicitor to request that the contact arrangements are changed prior to the court proceedings. Keep copies of these letters for yourself and you will be able to prove in court that you have attempted to continue the contact despite your change in circumstances. It is unlikely to count in your ex-partner’s favour that she has not been flexible regarding contact however she is not acting unlawfully, as she is only bound by what is contained in the contact order.
We hope this information has been of use to you however if you feel that you need further clarification on any the issues discussed above then please do not hesitate to contact us on 08088 020 008.
Kind regards
Children’s Legal Centre
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