Hi,
So I had my first court hearing yesterday. A Fact Finding was objected; as the mother didn't want to proceed with one. I will be seeing my daughter every Wednesday for 2 hours with a prohibited steps order (so I can't take child away from any of her family) not that I would anyway it's just what the mother wanted in place. (I'm trying to show compliance with the court).
I need to get a position statement in order for the Section 7 report. Does anyone know what else I can include? A few things weren't addressed in the first court hearing. 1) My ex has defamation of my charictor and towards my parenting - can I challenge this in any way? I don't like it when she lies about my charictor as a person and the lies she has made up about me.
2) My ex's mother has been involved with social services and CAFCASS are aware of this. I haven't had my phone call with them yet, but do you think it's worth asking for a secution 37 report or an addendum S7 report and will they take her mother into account since she's also living with Grace.
3) I'm trying to go for Shared custody. So What I tell CAFCASS at this point needs to support that. If anyone has any advice or things I can include in the next report please let me know. Is there anyway I can record the contact sessions at all, so the mother doesn't lie or make something up that I tried to remove my daughter away from her? I don't want my ex to lie about anything that happens in the contact that could juprodise my contact. It's mainly the defamation of my charictor that is bringing me down and all the lies etc.
Hello
Good that you agreed to interim contact. However, supervised contact at a contact centre or with an independent social worker would be ideal. The contact notes can be used as evidence to disprove allegations by your ex or to support what you say about yours and your daughter’s relationship. However bear in mind that as part of the section 7 report, Cafcass will likely observe a contact session with you and your daughter.
Step 1: Ensure that your life is in order. Cafcass want to know how you want to spend time with your daughter and how you could make it possible. E.g weekdays, weekends, nursery collections/drop-offs. Propose arrangements that are practical and that you can stick too.
Step 2: Don’t respond to her allegations line by line, and don’t make admissions e.g “sometimes I might drink 4-5 beers or get cross”. However, do respond to important concerns e.g you job schedule is unpredictable or you don’t know how to put a child to bed.
Step 3: If your daughter will live with her grand mother and you have safeguarding concerns then raise them. In general stick to raising concerns that you can support with evidence e.g emails, photos and text messages.
