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I had a contact hearing regarding my six month old daughter recently and only got 4hrs access a week due to mum claiming she was breastfeeding. A few weeks ago i asked mum if i can put the little one on private health care and she refused so i decided to request all the documents fro the surgery my self and fill in the paper work. Today i received a letter with a brief conclusion of all the visits out daughter has had to her GP and it notes that she has been feeding from a bottle since birth!!! Now i am considering writing back to the courts with the GP report and ask as mum is not breastfeeding to increase my hours. Can anyone please advise on how i can do this or what is best to do in this situation.
Thanks
Kieran
You need to apply to vary the contact order - your best move is to contact the Children's Legal Centre for the exact procedure and forms. I'd also check with them about private health care question - I'm not sure that your ex can refuse this.
Hi kieran,
I will ask the Childrens Legal Centre to stop by and give you some advice on this one.
Gooner
Dear Kieran,
Thank you for contacting the Children’s Legal Centre.
There are several options open to you at this stage in relation to your contact.
If the Contact Order has been made within the last 14 days you can appeal the order. This appeal needs to be based on either an error of law, or that the decision given by the court was unreasonable.
If it has been more than 14 days since the court order was made then you will need to apply for variation. If you are eligible for legal aid or willing to pay privately you can do this through a local family solicitor. You can check whether you are eligible for legal aid by using the online calculator at www.clsdirect.org.uk . If you are not able to retain the services of a solicitor then you may wish to apply for variation of the Contact Order yourself. The application form for variation of an existing order is the C2 and can be downloaded at www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk . There are also two guidance forms available to assist with the completion of the C2 which are the CB1 and the CB3, also available from the above website. These forms will need to go to the court in which the original court order was made, along with court application fee. Family courts are very used to people representing themselves and should you have any questions on procedure, you can contact either the court or ourselves.
When making the application you can state on the form that the reasons given for contact awarded in the existing court order have since been discovered to be incorrect and therefore you are requesting that the Order be varied to increase contact in your favour. You may wish to refer to the GP’s letter disproving the need for limited contact based on the child’s need to be with the mother for breast feeding requirements.
It should be noted that courts are not keen to vary contact where it has only been in place for a short period of time, as they like to see that the contact arrangements have been tried for a while before changing them. However you are able to apply for variation of a Contact Order at any point, there is no time restriction on this.
In relation to the private health care, if you have parental responsibility then ideally all major decisions in relation to your daughter’s health should discussed by both parents. If your name is on your daughter’s birth certificate then you will have parental responsibility automatically. In some situations all that is required is the consent of one parent so it is possible for one parent to make a decision in relation to schools, medical treatment and other matters without the knowledge or consent of the other parent. Should this ever happen, and discussions between parents are unable to resolve the conflict, then it is possible to apply to the courts for a specific issue order. This is a court order requesting that the court make the decision in a matter upon which the parents cannot agree. In practice, it is often the case that the resident parent (the parent with whom the child lives) makes the day to day decisions and this can extend to medical treatment.
We hope this information has been of use to you. Should you require further information please contact the child law advice line on 0808 8020 008.
Kind regards
The Children’s Legal Centre
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