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my partner and i had a domestic incident which thanks to well meaning health visitor who recalled and reported what i had said wrong my partner has been convicted harshly and branded an abuser. social services stopped contact with his son who is with his previous partner which he had to get a contact order for. he has now been allowed back to the family home with me and our two children but his ex the mother of his son was told by social services to stop all contact and refuse him contact he has to go through the courts. he read on the internet because of the dv conviction he will never see his son again is there anything he can do? his son has been badly treated by his ex, i personally took note of the many ways he appeared to be neglected, my partner also showed me court papers etc that shows his ex subjected his son to an alleged paedophile/rapist, and when my partner showed social services and the police evidence of her breaking the agreement made by the court not to let this alleged paedophile to have contact on many an occasion he was told it wasnt enough and social services protected the mother of his son and did everything they could to stand in the way of my partner protecting his son. thankfully this threat to his son moved on but it doesnt take away from the fact that it happened and his son was subjected to this abuse and still suffers from neglect. we need advice where to go and what to do
Hi Kerrie and welcome
In my opinion, the statement that he will never see his son again is unlikely to be the case, I would expect a court, at the very least, to consider supervised contact for a period, and would ask for reports from social services.
I will ask the CCLC (childrens legal centre) to pop on and give some advice, so keep checking back here.
Dear Kerri,
Thank you for your query.
Incidents of Domestic Violence do not automatically prevent contact from taking place. The Court's starting point is that contact is the right of the child and they will be looking to find a way for contact to take place. They will of course need to ensure that a child is not going to be placed at risk and this may mean that supervised contact is appropriate in some cases as a way of ensuring contact takes place in a way which is in the child's best interests.
When considering matters relating to children the Court will have regard to the welfare checklist;
1. The wishes and feelings of the child (where older)
2. The emotional, physical and educational needs of the child
3. The likely effect on the child of any change in circumstances
4. How capable each parent is of providing care
5. Any harm the child has suffered or is at risk of suffering
You mention that there is a Contact Order in place,this order remains legally binding and it would be worth taking this back to court for enforcement. Mum is likely to raise the Domestic Violence as a reason for stopping contact and the court will consider this in light of the welfare checklist. Mum may apply for variation of the Contact Order based on the DV incident; again it would be for the Court to decide what is in the child's best interests.
A family solicitor would be able to assist you with applying for enforcement.
If you are not eligible for legal aid or unable to afford a solicitor you can make court applications yourself. The form you would need is a C100 and can be obtained either from your local county court or at www.justice.gov.uk . This form will need to be filed at the County Court local to where the child lives. You will also need to look at forms CB1 and CB3 for guidance on completing the C100 and filing the forms.
We hope this information has been of use to you and wish you well as you take this matter forward.
Should you wish to discuss your situation further please do contact one of our legal advisors via our webchat which can be accessed on our website www.childrenslegalcentre.com between 9am and 6pm.
Yours faithfully
The Coram Children’s Legal Centre
If you believe the child remains at risk you will need to raise this with Social Services or the police.
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