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I have a 6 year old daughter who I wish to apply for full custody for due to the following reasons, my daughter does not live with her mum, she lives with the grandmother (Why I do not know), my ex has had another child (boy) with another man whom she lives with, my daughter has asked me time & time again that she wants to live with me, I feel i'm in a much better position to look after my daughter financially etc as her mum does not work (on benefits) & offer a much better happier environment & upbringing as her mum has no reason for not living with her & has simply dumped her at her grandmothers.
I am just confused as to how I need to go about the whole process & if my reasons for full custody would hold up in a court of law, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hi there,
Are you named on the birth certificate? Do you have regular contact with your daughter and does she stay overnight with you?
How long has she been living at the grandmothers? Does your daughter have much contact with her mother?
If you are on the birth certificate you have parental responsibility, the grandmother does not. If your daughter has regular overnight contact with you that will also be in your favour. If she has been at her grandmothers for a while and the mother is living with the father of her other child this should also be taken into account.
Have you tried to talk to the mother about agreeing to your daughter living with you?
Hi, yes I am named on the birth certificate, my daughter stays with me every weekend & school holidays, she has been living at her grandmothers since the day she was born but this was only due to my ex not having her own place which she now has & has moved into yet my daughter has literally just been dumped at her grandmothers. I have tried speaking to both the grandmother & my ex but they were not keen on the idea which i suspect is due to their fear of losing my daughters benefits which to be honest I would gladly let them keep.
When did she move out of her mothers? I only ask because if it was very recently she could argue that it was only meant to be temporary.
The way I see it is that at the moment she is living with her grandparent who does not have any legal right or parental responsibility. If you were to phone the police and explain that your daughter has been abandoned by her mother and left for x amount of time at her grandmothers house, who does not have any legal rights, and as her father you want to provide a home for her with you, explaining that you do have PR and that your daughter is expressing the wish to live with you. Ask them what their position would be if you were to keep hold of her.
If you were to do this and not take her back after the weekend visit you would have to apply for a residence order immediately first thing on Monday morning. You would need to submit a C100 form for contact and a C1a form to tell the court about the risk/abandonment that is taking place. When you submit the forms you must tell the clerk that you are applying for an emergency residence order and need to be in court immediately. They will then set a date either the same day or the following day.
The other option is to offer to let them keep the benefits and see what they say....if they agreed I would still suggest you applied for residence and then after so many months put your own claim in for the child benefits and tax credits.
I forgot o mention that if you are on a low income or benefits you would be entitled to an exemption of the court fee which is normally £200. You would need form EX 160a to claim this.
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