[Solved] I want to see my kids

No offence inteded here.....but why do you feel you shouldn't pay towards the living costs of your children?

I struggle to live on my wage paying 15% of my wages to my ex - i don't like it either - but i do it as its not just the law but the right and responsible thing to do for my child.

Hi There,

I feel that you should be paying towards your child's up-bringing as all dads should.

However the answer to your question is no, not paying child maintenance doesn't mean you don't have any rights to see your child, they are 2 separate issues and should be treated as such, a father who pays towards his children's up-bringing has the same rights to see them as one who doesn't pay anything.

Darren

Hi Steevy,

I'm going to echo what both Darren and dad-i-d have said - you should really be paying maintenance for your children.

And again as both have already said in Law contact and maintenance are two very different things.

I don’t want Parental Responsibility

I would be very careful about saying you don't want Parental Responsibility, as PR is one of the factors that is considered when courts grant dads the right to have contact with their children. Check out our article regarding fathers right here.

Are you named on your childs birth certificate ? Was you married to your ex ?

I will ask the Coram Childrens Legal Centre to pop by and offer you some advice regarding access.

Cheers

Gooner

Hi

...If you dont want the responsibility of being a parent, and you dont want to contribute financially, then why do you feel so strongly about having the right to see them?

I'm slightly confused :unsure:

If you get to court, do tell the judge how you feel and I'm sure he will come to the right decision! 🙂

I have to agree, am also confused if you want no PR and do not and have not paid anything for the children why then do you want to see them?

Dear Steve,

Contact and maintenance are two entirely separate issues in law. Contact is always seen to be the right of the child/ren and not the right of the parent and there is nothing set out in law which states the minimum amount of contact the non-resident parent should have and it is hoped that this can be decided between the parties.

If there are no court orders in place regarding the children, and you do not have parental responsibility for the children, then the mother's only obligation as the resident parent is to be reasonable about providing you with contact with the children. Being "reasonable" about contact depends on your and the mother's personal circumstances. Non-payment of maintenance would not be a valid reason for restricting contact entirely.

If you cannot come to an amicable agreement with the children's mother regarding contact, the first stage that we would advise to take would be to contact National Family Mediation on 0300 4000 636 to discuss mediation further. Mediation is used to try and resolve any issues that parties have amicably without resorting to the Court process. Anything that is agreed in mediation is not legally binding; however it can be taken into account in subsequent court proceedings.

If mediation does not work, the final stage would be applying to the Courts for a Contact Order. A Contact Order is a legally binding document. A Judge would hear all the evidence put before them by you and your partner in terms of contact and make an Order that is in the child’s best welfare. Once the Order is made it must be stuck too and any breach can be brought back to Court and the Order can be enforced.

To apply for a Contact Order you would need to complete a C100 form which can be obtained from www.justice.gov.uk or from your local Family Proceedings Court. There is a fee of £200 for this application. However, if you are eligible for legal aid there is a fee remission form entitled EX160A. To apply for Parental Responsibility the form you need is a C1. There is also a fee of £200 for this. Once you complete the forms you then need to lodge them at your Local Family Proceedings Court and then the Courts will write to you with a hearing date.

If you have any further questions please contact us again via our webchat facility. The link to our webchat is http://www.childrenslegalcentre.com/index.php?page=web_chat.

Yours sincerely,

Coram Children’s Legal Centre