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HI Guys
I need so help….
EX and I have a Consent Order dated last year for contact. All the terms of the contact were agreed between me and EX. Since order came in to force EX changes contact to suit social life. Whilst some of the contact is replaced ( as pert of court order) this is unfair as it disrupts the contact pattern. Contact is cancelled due to various illnesses and false medical/dentist appointments. In the last 4 months 5 contacts have been cancelled. In addition to this weekly telephone contact is not taking place as EX is supposed to call me.
To top things off EX is now messing me about regarding half term holiday. I know that EX wants to go to a party during contact so EX has conveniently changed the contact dates despite me confirming dates last year and also order states I collect direct from school for contact.
My dilemma is do I take this to court to enforce the order in order to try to stop this behaviour from EX? If so then how sympathetic will a judge be to me? Will be issue a penal order and can I claim costs?
OR
Accept this is part and parcel of the situation……
😯
Hi Graff
Firstly welcome to Dadtalk and thank you for posting. Your situation is not unusual however you need to think about the next steps. I would urge you to try to seek some mediation with your ex to try to resolve this, if nothing else it will look good should you have to go to court.
Our legal team here will be able to give you some more help and so I have moved your topic
Look out for a reply
SM
Hi Graff
I'm sorry the Children's Legal Centre are taking a while to answer your query. I hope they'll come back to you soon. In an ideal world it would be best for contact to remain on a regular basis without too much chopping and changing, allowing for a little flexibility when necessary, I'm not sure parties and socialising fit into this category.
As suggested by Super Mario, if you and your ex could reach an agreement through mediation in the first instance this would go in your favour should you decide to pursue this through the courts at a later date.
Hi graff
Sorry to hear you are going through this, but it's not unheard of. You have basically answered your own question as to your options - you either do something about it or you accept the situation as it is now. As above, the best solution is mediation if possible, but otherwise you'll need to get a contact order - my guess is that a judge would certainly have a lot of sympathy for your argument as they appreciate that both you and your child need certainty of contact. My advice would be to broach the aubjuect of mediation with your ex, with the implication that you'll go to court if matters don't improve - that may being her back to the original agreement.
Hi there is a contact order in place - infact its a consent order that we both agreed to - the terms are agreed by both of us.
In terms of mediation --- I know that the next contact will be cancelled......
therefore:
-what forms do I complete to take this matter back to court to enforce the order via a ex parte hearing
-i want to apply for costs - how succesful would I be?
-is there anything else that i may need to consider?
Sorry, I realise there is a consent order - I'm not sure what the penalty is for breaking a consent order - it's definitely one to have a word with the children's legal centre before you do anything.
With regards to costs, it is extremely unlikely that you would succeed with an application for costs - if you are represeting yourself, then your legal costs would be low, if you are being represented by a solicitor, then I'd seriously weigh up whether it's worth the additional legal costs incurred in going for costs - I speak from experience here.
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