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Hello,
I'm going in for a 'Final Contested Hearing' next month and I was wondering what kind of experience's people here have with the process. Let me first give you the shortest lowdown I can:
My story, like most here, is a very long one and so I will not go into TOO much detail. I have been in the court system since 9th February 2010. I have never wanted to go down the legal route, believing that it was better for my son (currently aged 3 and a half) not to be dragged down to this level. However, his mother's actions meant that the only way I could gain access to my son was through court action.
It took a long time to gain access, it wasn't until May 29th 2010 that I saw him again. The last time I had seen him before this was June 14th 2009. I missed a year of his life, both his 2nd Christmas and Birthday. Contact took place in a supervised contact centre. My ex had made allegations that I was violent towards her and I was expecting a Cafcass report to be made but the court didn't order one. I believe this is because these allegations had only emerged after I had applied for contact. She had actually offered me contact through her solicitors before changing her mind. I had also had our son in my care for the weekend twice with out her presence.
I believe it would have been beneficial had a Cafcass report been made because I would have had the chance to prove how great a dad I am. Instead I was immediately given one hour every fort-night at the supervised contact centre, with my ex present. I was happy with this at the time and gladly awaited the next court hearing, which was essentially to be a review of the contact. I felt that contact had gone incredibly well, even after a year of not seeing each other it was obvious that the strong bond we had once shared was quickly reforming.
When we went back to court on 6th August, it was my ex's word against mine. In fact, I didn't even get a word. My ex said that she did not feel that I was ready to take him out of the contact centre and so I had to remain there until the next hearing which was supposed to be 12th November. I was given an extra hour and my ex was now made to leave the room, but I was still stuck in the contact centre.
My ex didn't turn up to the hearing on the 12th November and so it was postponed until 7th January 2011. After nearly a year of fighting, I was finally allowed to have contact with my son outside of a contact centre. We went back to court 8th April and I was given additional time with him (now 6 hours). However, when we went back to court on 8th July my ex decided that she no longer wanted to negotiate. I had arrived with a number of reasonable requests which I had typed out, I was confident that I would secure at least a few of them. My ex refused to allow any progress with contact to take place whatsoever. She was adamant that contact should remain at 6 hours. I was hoping to finally get to have my son over in Bristol for the weekend. He lives in Manchester and I live in Bristol at the moment so that when I do see him for the 6 hours, we have no home to go to. She wasn't willing to consider any progression.
My barrister recommended that we finally end this slow, dragged out process of returning to court and negotiating for pittance sake. I had expected to be allowed to have my son in Bristol a long time ago, each time I have returned to court I have been dissapointed. This is because the process has been based purely on negotiation, my barrister has suggested that we take this to a 'Final Contested Hearing'. So, on 19th August the courts will finally get to hear my story and I have no doubt that they will make a decision which is in mine and my sons favour.
I met with my solicitor on Thursday and we discussed the statement that I would make for the final contested hearing. I have been writing it myself so far and it's 16 pages long. I realise that this is WAY too long for the actual statemt but I decided that I would basically write down the details (supported by specific dates) of my story so far since meeting my ex in 2007. It has been a difficult process going through the past in so much detail, but it's also been really useful to record it all. I only have a vague idea of how much detail the statement should go into and what it must include. I am leaving it up to my solicitor to chop the document to pieces, leaving only the relevant points in.
- I was wondering if anyone could tell me about their statements, if they have been through a similar process. What they have included, what their ex's included etc.
- Also, I am keen to understand how the 'cross examination' will work. If anyone has any experiences of this that they could share I am most appreciative.
I am keen to hear of any experiences related to a final contested hearing.
Hi,
A long time since mine, so I can't remember too many of the details, but get everything down in your statement, and then let your solicitor and barrister hone it down to the relevant points. I think my statements (and there were a number of them, changing as we went through the numerous hearings) were about 5 pages long.
Hi darwing,
Regarding the contested hearing.
You (or your Solicitor) will need to prepare a statement for the hearing.
I would suggest you use exemplar documents from The Custody Minefield website, it has lots of important points.
The statement itself should be factual, emotive and should clearly point to evidence, reasoning that you would be in the childs best interests to be involved. Things to include i would put into common areas:
- Background - Prior to you and your partner separating, what contact was there, amd what agreements were made (if any) towards your contact. Once separated or even if you were separated what events have transpired since and what has lead to the Contested hearing being drawn up?
- Previous Court Directives - When you had court involvement prior to this contested hearing, what happened to your relationship with your child, did contact continue? Did the courts order anything i.e. PIPS or Mediation and if so what did you think of these?
- Medical History - Does your child have any medical history? If so state clearly and concisely what this/these may be stating why you should not be deferred from contact because of this medical history. If there is no medical ailment etc simply put "There is currently no medical issue as to which i am aware"
- Maintenance (Optional) - I currently provide £XXX through a private arrangement/CSA following our separation
- Place of Contact - Where will or would contact be held? Why should it be held there? Why should you be trusted and what will you do? What makes any environment you may take your child into suitable... it may be a good idea to include pictures of bedrooms or garden activity sets so as to make clear to the courts "this is what i've done in preparation" one should suffice
- Request for the Court - What is it exactly that you want the court to allow? Multiple days, defined order, overnight care. Can you prove you are capable of this (note: this would tie back into place of contact but its fine)
- Closing - This is a personal statement from yourself so that you can say how you feel (from an emotional perspective) why you application should be allowed i.e. i am in her best needs and its important that my child has the right to his/her father and i have that right to them to offer emotional, educational and physical support etc. Also its not bad to actually praise the efforts of the Mother either (even if she may be being unreasonable)
The longest section of these should undoubtedly be the Background section.
For all sections put each point as a bullet point. Don't use paragraphs or walls of text, your argument could get missed, overlooked or buried, and likewise there is a chance that wording may not be interpreted correctly. Putting them as points also makes it look much more concise and easy to follow.
Once this is done, you will need 2 cover pages, one to state the court, case and whom it is between i.e. yourself and your ex and who is the respondent and who is the applicant and what is the name of the Child(ren) it is in reference to, with their date of birth.
The second cover should include the Court, Case whom it is between and a title that says "Statement". This cover sheet should also include the following:
I [YOUR NAME] of [1 HIGH STREET, AREA, CITY, POSTCODE] (in capitals those two pieces) provide this statement to the courts in reference to the case of my child(ren), [YOUR CHILDS NAME]. I believe the contents to be true, accurate and submit this statement knowing that the points enclosed can be called into question for the basis which they are required and intended.
^ The Custody Minefield uses a similar statement, you may wish to use theirs, mine or a combination of both. I have used a combination as feel it makes it a little more personal.
Don't forget to include pictures...
Once completed fully, sign and date both copies, one copy of this is sent to the Courts, and another is issued to the Respondent or her Solicitor.
The whole thing (including 2 cover sheets but EXCLUDING PICTURES) should be approximately 7-10pages. Any more and its likely there are points that are not important.
Hope this helps.
Following on from my above post, the next stage is that:
You will receive a "reply" as such, which is a statement from the other party (your ex) who will try and counter any arguments and likely she will try and badmouth you or try and prove you are incapable.
You can then of course prepare a counter to this ready for the court date at which point you can address the courts on the accusations. There is no crime in being honest. If you try and lie you will in most instances get found out.
Its much better to basically show brass and say "Yes i do agree, what i did was a mistake but XYZ". You will get to air your opinion to the Courts of fairness, interests toward your child and then may have the harrowing wait for the bench (collection of Magistrates and Legal Adviser) to reach a decision. A little tip is the shorter you are able to make the hearing, technically, the better opportunity you have of contact that you request.
Keep your cool, but at the same time if you feel that a Barrister is overstepping his or her mark, don't stand for it and calmly state "Please don't speak to me like that, you're being rude" etc and its likely this may prompt a warning from Magistrates. At the end of the day barristers usually try and threaten and intimidate you into acting or getting you mad. They do afterall have to win for their client.
Thank you Yoji, i appreciate all of your advice. The statement has been sent off today. My solicitor didn't cut it down as much as I had hoped, it's still 20 pages long. My solicitor says that the courts will be critical of the length, but that all of the points were relevant. I hope the length doesn't stink of desperation and instead shows how much this matters to me.
I included most of the points you mentioned, I think I made a good argument. I included plenty of pictures too.
As far as I'm aware me and my ex both make statements at the same time. So there will be no reply.
I will let you know how things go.
Hi darwing
You've had some excellent advice given above and I hope this has helped you. I can only imagine how hard it is for you right now waiting for the next court hearing but I do hope that you and your son will be reunited and you and he can spend a lot more regular time together. Please let us know how you get on and all the very best.
Fantastic info there.....
i've got my contested hearing coming up on 25th Aug and i have just started this week on my statement. Looking at it now i'm so glad this was posted this week....i can now revise mine and make it look more presentable.
may even save my solicitor some time and me money.
No problem,
Hopefully this will give some others a bit of information on what to include.
The real crunch of this matter is the Court Hearing itself. In my opinion the 20pages does seem very (very) excessive but i can't possibly comment on your full situation/background.
Courts will often give bad, or unfair judgements and you do have a right to question them. You won't get in trouble for this and if you do disagree with a decision don't be scared to stand up and make your feelings known.
If you need any further advice on enforcement actions available (I) or i'm sure others will be happy to advise on actions you can take and your rights regarding these.
Dad-i-Dad good luck with your Contested, let us know how it goes on 😀
Its actually a great piece - would it be worth putting this on the front page? A guide for final hearing statements?
BW
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