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Hi all
I am new to this site and i am in desprate need of help and advice.
I was with my ex partner for 7 years and we have two boys together.We split around 2 years ago and both went to solicitors inorder for me to gain access to my one child at the time. We both ended up dropping the solicitors 6 months into our split and getting back together as we felt we could sort things out which we did, We have split again in January just gone and i have seen my 2 boys once for an hour in a park. I have tried to contact her via telephone to try talk things through but without any provaile. My ex has now been to a solicitor stating i have been harrasing her but does not want to take things further (police) she has also stated that during our 7 year relationship i physiclly abused her, which is 100% untrue. This accusation has scared me alot incase solicitors side with her and i get my boys taken away from me for ever, although there has never been one police report to say that we have had a violent relationship i am still very wary.
I am wanting to represtent myself in court as i can not afford to pay solicitors fees and can not get puiblic funding but i just dont know how to go about it. I know i need to go to my local court to get some sort of form but thats all i know.
Can anyone help me on what i need to do.
Thank you.
Thank you for contacting the Children’s Legal Centre, an independent charity concerned with law and policy affecting children and young people.
At present you children’s mother is able to control all contact, as your children live with her, which means that she is able to decide where and when contact takes place and for how long, she can change the times or days of contact, make contact supervised or even stop contact completely. Your ex partner should be reasonable about the restrictions she does put on contact, however at this time she does have the final say on what will happen.
Generally the first step to seeking contact is to attempt mediation. The contact number for National Family Mediation is 01392 271610. If mediation is not successful or you do not feel it is appropriate then you are able to make the application straight to court.
You can gain the court forms from www.hmcs.gov.uk or from your local court. The forms you require to apply for a contact order are the C100, CB1 and CB3. The C100 form is the application for the order, and the other forms are guidance on completing the application, the court process and what will happen next.
Once the application is complete you must file this at the Family Proceedings Court closest to where your children are living. There is a filing fee of £175.
You would need to provide enough copies of the application for each party. The court will let you know of anything else you must do and will give you notice of any court dates that you must attend.
When the matter goes to court the court will consider all the circumstances and will make a decision based on what is believed to be in the children’s best interests.
The court can hold a fact finding hearing, to decide whether or not they believe these allegations of domestic violence based on any evidence presented. Even if the court finds that they do believe these allegations, this will not be a bar to contact but the court will decide whether it should have any impact on the contact that is granted.
There is a presumption in favour of contact as it is thought that contact is in the children’s best interests and the courts are keen to grant this if there is no risk to the children.
If the court makes an order for contact then this will be legally binding and the mother can be penalised for a breach of this.
We hope this information is useful to you. Should you require further advice please contact our Child Law Advice Line on 0845 120 2948.
Kind Regards
Children’s Legal Centre
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