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Evening,
Just registered here as although I've been a dad for 10 years I finally need to do something about my 4 year old and how to work with his mother (we have been separated for around 3 years)
Basically, my child's mother isn't very good at keeping to the arrangements of when my son stays with me and when I take him back to her house. There are regular occurances where last minute changes are made to drop off times/days which I have so far gone along with as much as possible. My other problem is how if I'm not able to drop everything last minute trouble starts where I'm told I won't be seeing my son again, she'll tell him all sorts about me and that kind of thing!
I would love to spend as much time with my boy as possible but to also have a balance between myself and his mother and ideally would like to get something sorted and agreed legally as I feel a regular routine is the best way to make the situation easier for my son and myself.
I'm worried about the cost of all of this as I don't have any savings and generally struggle month to month financially so was wondering if anyone has any advice on ways to go down the legal route but not end up paying thousands £'s that I don't have?
Any help will be gratefully received.
Thanks Everyone
Hi woodsy and welcome.
Have a read of yoji's guide to representing yourself at the top of the Legal Eagle thread - that gives the procedure to go through, and if you represent yourself, then the only cost is the £200 court fee, and we can also call on the services of the Childrens Legal Centre (assuming you are in England)
Hi Woodsy,
As actd says have a read of yoji's guide as it covers what you need to know.
I went through court and represented myself, it cost me a total of £250 that includes travel to and from court, postage for documents and coffee (always need coffee :woohoo: :woohoo: )
It's a scary proccess, but it's only scary as your head makes it that way (hence the coffee :whistle: ) if and when you go to court the judge and the staff at the courts are used to people self representing and will help you by explaining what to do and how to address the judge, you just have to ask when you check in.
Don't allow finances to stop you having quality time with your child.
again as actd has said as long as you are not in Scotland and don't have a solicitor appointed we can ask the childrens legal team to coment on anything you need advice on.
Darren
Hi Woodsy,
Completely agree with the above, the Childrens Legal Centre are amazing (08088 020 008 or via webchat at http://www.childrenslegalcentre.com) but have you checked if you may be entitled to Legal Aid - you can check eligibility at http://legalaidcalculator.justice.gov.uk/calculators and you can find a list of firms who may be able to provide legally-aided representation by following the links at http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/public/find_legal_information.asp.
However this is not to say that the legal route/representing yourself is neccessarily the right or wrong option, depending on the facts of the case, but there is a host of free information available to help you reach the most relevant decision. It is also worth considering that formal, court-ordered decisions can be very expensive, hard-to-come-by and then relatively inflexible in the future - this can also be the case with informal agreements :unsure: but have you considered or exhausted all non-legal options first, eg. mediation?
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