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Hi, I am looking for some advice. I will give as much info as possible. My partner has had numerous problems over access with his child for the last 4 years, 2 years ago he started legal proceedings to have proper access times and dates drawn up in court and to gain parental rights so that ex couldn't keep breaking them whenever she felt like it. Before court mediation was attempted but his ex refused to attend- she never responded to any of the solicitors letters or took any legal advice herself, a court date was made for Oct 09 . July 09 we had planned yet another family holiday around partners ex's dates but 2 weeks before she cancelled(again) and said she was taking partners child abroad instead and this was the only time she could go. Halfway through the holiday she called and said they were going to live there and weren't coming back except to visit at Christmas 09. Our solicitor was a bit out of her depth - dont think she had ever dealt with anything like this - we contacted reunite etc but as partner didn't have parental rights yet we were told didn't think there was much we could do. After weeks of refusing ex finally gave him an address so we had the court date papers served to her at her address abroad - needless to say she was fuming but she did decide to return to the UK at the end of Sep 09. Around a week before the court date was due she said she was leaving the UK again so my partner applied to the court to have a restriction placed on her taking his child out of the UK. She was served with papers that night and then finally decided to go seek legal advice. My partner met with his ex before the court date to try and discuss the best outcome, her husband was working abroad which was her main reason for wanting to go. My partner was bullied in to agreeing to let his daughter move by her making him feel guilty saying it was what she wanted and how he would have to explain why he had made her miss out on such an amazing opportunity.etc etc....anyway they attended court and had a contact order drawn up stating that his ex had to bring and fund two trips to the UK every year in July and December. They also have to have 2 phonecalls and a skype call every week. Well they left in Feb '10 and came back in August '10 for the first visit. She had originally said they would be back in July, we booked a holiday and lo and behold she changed the dates, we went to see a new solicitor who sent her a letter but 3 months on she has failed to seek legal adivce or respond. She has now turned round and said they will not be making two trips a year as her husband has taken a lower paid job and they can't afford it. We are loking to see solicitor again but he is currently on annual leave. Any advice about how easy it is to enforce a court order when they live at other side or world would be really helpful. My partner would never have agreed to only have one visit a year and would rather have fought it out in court for her to not go, its hard enough only seeing his child once a year plus she has a younger sibling (our child) who her relationship will suffer a great deal also..
Hi needadvice
I'm really sorry to hear about this situation which sounds to be very stressful for all concerned. I am going to pass your question on to our legal team for their input and I hope that they will come back to you soon with a response.
In the meantime it may help to talk it through with Families Need Fathers who you can call on 0300 0300 363 or http://www.fnf.org.uk for their advice. What is important is that that your partner just doesn't give up. It's great that at least he can call and skype regularly, although of course this isn't the same as face to face contact, his daughter knows that her dad is doing all he can to keep in touch.
I hope this helps and you hear from our legal team shortly.
Dear needadvice,
Thank you for contacting The Children’s Legal Centre.
The Contact Order states that the mother is to bring the children to the UK to see their father twice a year, by failing to do so the mother is breaching this court order. The mother should not be changing the arrangements at will, a court order needs to be varied by the court for it no longer to apply in it’s original format. Therefore the mother is in breach of this contact order. The difficulty arises in the fact that this court order was not made in the country the children are now in and therefore is not considered legally binding.
In order to have a court order enforced abroad it must be mirrored into the law of the country the children are now resident in, this may involve the matter being dealt with by a solicitor or court of that country. Once this is done then the Contact Order can be enforced by the authorities in that country. It is possible to have a court order enforced but this can only be done once the court order becomes applicable in that country.
This is a matter best dealt with by a solicitor as it will involve the law and legal system of the country the children are now in. We would advise that you do seek the assistance of a solicitor in this matter.
We hope this information has been of use to you.
Should you have any further questions please contact our Child Law Advice Line on 0808 8020 008.
Kind regards
The Children’s Legal Centre
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