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Hello all. Im wondering if anyone knows if my ex can take my daughter away to scotland and not tell me where she is? im in england and have recently been awarded parental responsibility by the courts. there is no violence in the relationship or anything like that. could she get into trouble for what she is doing? (she suffers mental health issues but has moved back to scotland with her parents after being here for around 20 years).
We were on talking terms when i got the order for parental responsibility so us and the judge agreed on i see my daughter once a fortnight with the ex being there until i undertake a parenting course to show id have a rough idea on how to look after a child(her recomendation). That course has now been completed but i havent seen my daughter in over two months because the ex made her cry everytime i went. I was due to see her last week to give it another try and when i called she told me shes moved to scotland with her and wont tell me where. My solicitor is now in the process of getting it back to court but it could take upto 7 months.
id just like to know if shes breaking any rules and will the courts frown upon what shes doing?
thanks all
Hi
You haven't made it completely clear, but I assume that you have been granted a contact order, so if your ex is not sticking to that order, then she's in contempt of court. If she wants to vary the order, then she would have to go back to court to do this. Unfortunately, I don't know how the order is enforceable in Scotland, but your solicitor should be able to advise you on this - I don't think the CLC can offer any specific advice as you already have a solicitor, but they may be able to offer some general advice, so may be worth giving them a call.
As for letting you know her address, I would have thought that unless there was a genuine reason to withhold it, then she should advise you where your daughter resides, goes to school etc.
Finally, I would say that your solicitor should be applying to court for an emergency order to enforce contact (assuming you can manage to go to Scotland to visit) as it is being withheld - 7 months is not reasonable at all, and I don't see why it should be so long.
I would write a letter covering all the points you are unclear about and email it to your solicitor to clarify them for you as a matter of urgency.
Thankyou for the quick reply. Its the scotish law im having trouble with and the solicitor seems just as clueless as me.
the reason she isnt giving me her address is as far as i can tell because shes moved in with her parents and they hate me. they have caused all this. the ex didnt dare tell them she trapped me pretending the doctor put her on the pill for her depression so they blame me. plus in their words im a dirty old man because she was 22 and i was 27. + they told her to abort the baby or get out so i went homeless with her until they accepted the situation . that was around the time of the 16 week scan. i didnt see or hear from the ex until my daughter was 7 month old and a long time getting her into court.
so do you think that could be a good enough reason for a judge to accept i cant know where my daughter is?
also it took 7 months last time because the ex refused to answer any letters. she will be doing the same this time im guessing. my appointment for mediation is on the 21st of this month which is a waste of time and then I can get to court. Ill speak to my solicitor about applying to court for an emergency order to enforce contact thanks. Im actually unemployed at the moment but even jobseekers should be enough to get to see her and ill be able to use the trip to get some CVs handed out at local shops to try and move closer
... woman! lol
oh! additional! this is something thats scared me. my solicitor knows the exs parents have threatened to cut her out of the family if she listenes to the courts orders. he then told me that a judge could actually turn around and say it isnt in my daughters best interest that im in her life because of the exs mental problems and therefore her and my baby relies on them, especially now they are in scotland for the first time in 20 years with no friends :s ...
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