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Hi, I am asking this on behalf of my partner who has joint custody of his 4 yr old daughter and a court order from when she was a baby.
My partners ex has just got a new boyfriend and has suddenly stopped all access to her.
The original court order gave both parents joint custody, but when the child started nursery my partner agreed to contact reducing to weekends and holidays so as not to disrupt her schooling (we live in different town)
His ex partner is now claiming that the original court order is no longer relevant because they have not had the access arrangement stated on it for a while.
I would appreciate any advice on what steps my partner should take to get access to his daughter returned, does he just need to get a letter from his solicitor sent to remind her she is in breach of the court order or will he need to go back to court?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Hi there 🙂
Joint custody or Shared Residence as its called doesnt have any kind of rigid contact but is meant to be flexible as the parents are expected to agree together about contact arrangements!
The existing order is as good as the day it was made and the ex doesnt know what shes talking about!
I think a letter from the solicitor pointing out that she is in breach of the order, and perhaps a brief explanation of what Shared Residence means would be a good idea. If that doesn't do the trick then its back to court for Enforcement. This can be done with a solicitor or your partner could consider representing himself....this would cost a one off fee of £200 to submit the C79 form to court. There are plenty of Dads here that have done just that so you will get lots of advice and support if you choose to go down that route.
Best of luck 🙂
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