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Hey!
I've been having regular flexible contact with my son for the past 4 years, im expecting my second child from my ne fiancee in a month or two and all of a sudden my child has started exibiting signs of Perental Ailenation Syndrome (PAS).
My sons school became conserned and I went in for a few meetings and agreed to mediation with my ex but in the mean time she has started witholding over night access which has been in place for over a year. her basis was that she was scared that the social services would take our son away from her. I called the social services as she had name dropped them in the letter withdrawing contact and they advised that the only thing they had on file was the request that I had raised for mediation. Though the ex is infering that there are concerns over my childs safety which is of course not true according to everyone else involved (the school, and social services).
The court order states a minimum amount of access for me and then "any other times to be agreed by the two parties" This was put in place to allow for any changes in the future.
Do i apply to the crown cour for a copy of my order?
If we have a set routine of access does she have the right to withdraw it on a whim?
There is of course much more at play here but i just need rough answers to the two questions
thanks
Also is suspected mental abuse such as PAS grounds enough to attain legal aid in the UK?
Hi
Firstly, you aren't going to get legal aid with this, and the UK courts don't recognise PAS.
Your first step it to try mediation - legal aid is still available for this as far as I understand, so contact www.nfm.org.uk in the first instance.
If that fails, then you need to apply to court to have the contact order varied - I think an enforcement is a tricky one since it sounds like the order wasn't too precise. I would say that you want to get overnight contact written into the order, and possibly a timetable for increased contact in the future.
Take a look at the two guides to representing yourself at the top of the legal eagle section, that will give you a good start.
...If you contact the court that issued the original order they should be able to provide you with a copy. If the contact order was made before the 8th December 2008 then you will probably need to apply for a warning notice to be attached, if the contact order was made after this date then the warning order will be attached automatically.
If you have an agreed amount of contact that is specified in the order then if she stops this she is in breach of the order and you can apply to the court for enforcement. This is done with form C79.
as actd rightly says, the UK courts do not recognize PAS but increasingly courts will take on board PA and ther is a very helpful blogsite by a fantasrtic lady called Karen Woodall who is a recognized expert in this field...heres a link -
www.karenwoodall.wordpress.com
Hope that helps!
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