Hi,
I have 3 children & have been separated since 2009. I went through a family court for two years & eventually in 2011 it was decided within a contact order that my ex husband would see the children every other weekend & 5 weeks during the school holidays. He has previously got married a couple of months ago & two weeks before he married he sent me a letter that he & his new wife to be would no longer have the kids every other weekend. He would just have them once a month & the 5 weeks during the holidays. Does anybody know if he can actually do this & where do I stand?
Hi feefee and welcome.
A contact order determines when you must make the children available for contact, but it doesn't force him to actually attend, so there isn't a great deal you can do beyond that I'm afraid, except to be there for your children, who are the ones losing in this. How old are they now?
I would definitely keep that letter - a court wouldn't take too kindly to that if you ever found yourself back there. There are so many dads on here that would love to have the sort of contact that he's turned down.
Hi there
That's terribly sad for your children, does he not realise how this will be interpreted by them and the damage it could cause?
Have you responded to him? You could suggest mediation to try and get some understanding in place.
All the best
Unfortunately actd is right - this doesn't put him in breach of the order. The order is there to make sure the children are available, he doesn't have to take the contact up.
How terribly sad for your children as this will impact on them greatly I would imagine.
I would suggest mediation too.
Best wishes
I don't have anything to add on the legal side, but just wanted to say how annoyed this makes me! Here I (and others) are fighting tooth and nail to get some sort of reasonable amount of time with our kids, and others just decide they can't be bothered to turn up.
It's really sad for the kids, definitely try mediation.