[Solved] Prohibited Steps Order

Does the mother have a residency order, or was the arrangment you have regarding contact agreed between the two of you?

I think you have a good chance of getting a Prohibitive Steps Order and, given your daughters desire to come and live with you and her age, I would say that you've got a good chance of getting a residency order.

I'm not sure that you'd get the prohibitive steps order as she's not moving with the sole intention of preventing contact. I agree with FM that if your daughter wants to come and live with you, you'd have a good chance at a residency order. However, would your ex agree to your daughter living with you for a couple of years until she's 16 - at which time she can choose where she lives any way?

Thanks for replying.

The mother does not have a residency order, we just agreed between ourselves.

I've just spoken to her mother tonight and she has now basically given me an ultimation; either I move back to the area full time and my daughter lives with me there and I commute to work, which isn't going to be practical as I takes at least 1hr 30mins each way or she "sorts something else out" which probably means my daughter stops with her aunty or grandmother during the week while I'm away.

Realistically it's only going to work if she stops with me near where I work but my daughter may prefer to stop with her aunty or grandmother during the week if it means she can stay in the area. I'm unhappy about this as her grandmother had a stroke a few years go and can't speak and is pretty much housebound and her aunty is reckless and is a heavy drinker.

Is this likely to adversely affect my chances of getting a residency order? There's also a chance that her mother may decide to move her out of the area anyway to live with her new husband against my daughter's wishes.

The mother will only agree to her living with me if I moved back to the area full time and commute, which is hardly going to be in her best interests as I would be leaving house at 6:50am each day and not getting back to at least 8pm whereas if she lives with me close to where I work I wouldn't need to leave until 8:30am and could be back by 6pm most days.

I would have a word with the Coram Children's Legal Centre (CCLC). They offer free legal advice for those without any current legal representation. There's a link to their website at the foot of the page. I believe they have a freephone number and webchat facility.

I think ACTD may have a point about the PSO, so you need to act quickly about a residency application as the new academic year is almost upon us.

If you and the mother are still on speaking terms then I would consider mediation. It seems to me that she realises that interrupting your daughters schooling may not be in her best interests, so perhaps you can reach a compromise with the help of a third party?

If you go for residency, then you would need to assure the court that your daughter would be adequately cared for and demonstrate how this would work.

That's a fair point but I thought her living with me, albeit in a different area, was a compromise. Maybe I can't see the wood for the trees...

I've had a look on the CCLC website and it looks as though I might not need to apply for a residency order if my daughter chooses to live with me. The police would be unlikely to intervene as long as they are satisfied she is there of her own free will and is being cared for in a safe environment and as there is no residency order in place at the moment the mother would then have to apply for one but it would probably go against her given my daughter's age.

This is true. Your daughter can vote with her feet and it would make the whole process much easier from your point of view.