[Solved] Will i get my kids ?

I'm not a legal expert, but I have been through custody procedures myself. As I understand it, the court has to have a good reason to remove the children from their current home, so you would have to show that there was some physical or emotional harm to your children. The courts will take into account your children's feelings, depending on their ages, and CAFCASS would almost certainly be involved, so their report would certainly add weight to the court's consideration.

Hi

In other words it would be best just to go for define contact then ?

I'm not a legal expert, but I have been through custody procedures myself. As I understand it, the court has to have a good reason to remove the children from their current home, so you would have to show that there was some physical or emotional harm to your children. The courts will take into account your children's feelings, depending on their ages, and CAFCASS would almost certainly be involved, so their report would certainly add weight to the court's consideration.

My understanding / experience also is the same as Actd.. I've asked the guys at the Children's Legal Centre to respond too - might be a few days. Sounds like agreeing contact is key..

It might be a little down the road but we have some articles on Cafcass which might be helpful http://www.dadtalk.co.uk/articles/cafcass.php

\ Buzz

If you can agree contact, it is always going to be the easier and cheaper option - and a little give-and-take is worth while as long as it doesn't get out of hand.

If you have to go down the route of legal proceedings, then it will alway create antagonism - sometimes though, there is no alternative.

The Children Act (section 8) states that a residence order is just that - defining the child's place of residence. If the children already live with her, then nothing will change. If you currently have parental responsibility then you will continue to have a right to be in your children's lives daily, talk to and have reports from their school, etc. You will have access to their gp's records and you will have to be told about major things (like if your children start to attend counselling, etc).

If you don't have parental responsibility, then you are no further ahead at the minute anyways. A residence order has some restrictions on the resident parent that they don't have otherwise. Like your ex can't change your child's name without your consent (as long as you have PR), nor can she have them known by any other name (like at school). Also, she cannot take them out of the jurisdiction for longer than a month without your consent (again if you have PR).

Actd is right about changing residence - the Court will only do that under exceptional circumstances and if there is a question about residency then Cafcass will become involved, and Cafcass everywhere are having difficulties, as I've read in the Guardian and The Times recently, with backlogs.

Hiya

Ty
so the end result seems i will have to settle for define contact order... many thanks for everyone's help

The Children Act (section 8) states that a residence order is just that - defining the child's place of residence. If the children already live with her, then nothing will change. If you currently have parental responsibility then you will continue to have a right to be in your children's lives daily, talk to and have reports from their school, etc. You will have access to their gp's records and you will have to be told about major things (like if your children start to attend counselling, etc).

If you don't have parental responsibility, then you are no further ahead at the minute anyways. A residence order has some restrictions on the resident parent that they don't have otherwise. Like your ex can't change your child's name without your consent (as long as you have PR), nor can she have them known by any other name (like at school). Also, she cannot take them out of the jurisdiction for longer than a month without your consent (again if you have PR).

Actd is right about changing residence - the Court will only do that under exceptional circumstances and if there is a question about residency then Cafcass will become involved, and Cafcass everywhere are having difficulties, as I've read in the Guardian and The Times recently, with backlogs.

Dear Terry,

Thank you for contacting the Children’s Legal Centre, an independent charity concerned with law and policy affecting children and young people.

Generally the court will consider the opinion of children in contact and residence proceedings. The weight attached to a child’s opinion will be dependant on their age, maturity and understanding of the situation, but this is generally not the overriding factor until a child is 15 or 16 years old. Although from approximately 12 or 13 years old their opinion will hold some weight.

Although the children state that they want to live with you this will not necessarily happen, the judge will have the final decision on this and will make a decision based on what he believes to be in the children’s best interests, rather than what the children want.

You are able to contest the residence application being made by the mother and you can do this by representing yourself or by instructing a solicitor to represent you.

Any concerns that you have should be told to the court so that they can address these when making their decisions. It is unlikely that the children finding adult material or the mother having a new boyfriend will alone be enough for the children’s residence to be altered, as the court are generally quite reluctant to do this when the children are established as living with one parent, unless there is real reason to do so.

It is impossible to say what the court will decide, they will consider all the facts, including the opinions of the children and any concerns that you or the mother raise, and will then make their decision based on what they believe to be best for the children.

The court can order a full residence order in your favour, a full residence order in the mother’s (possibly joint with her partner if this has been applied for) favour, or some form of shared residence agreement. Shared residence would be in amounts thought fit by the court and not necessarily a 50/50 split of the children’s time.

Once an order is in place, this will be legally binding and any breach may lead to that person being penalised.

As you were married to the mother you do have Parental Responsibility and would be entitled to a say in the major decisions affecting their upbringing such as schooling, religion, moving abroad and medical treatment. This would remain the same even if a residence order is granted to the mother.
If a residence order was granted to you, then the mother would have a right to a say in these things. If disputes arise it would be a matter of attempting to resolve this yourselves or going to court for a decision.

We hope this information is useful to you. Should you require any further advice please contact our Child Law Advice Line on 0808 8020 008 and an advisor will be happy to help.

Kind Regards

Children’s Legal Centre

Hi All

Thnxs for the replys:... but i have now got my kids to say to the court welfare when they call out to tell them that they want to live with me whether that helps or not plus i have went and got a three bedroom house in the hope of getting the kids but from reading everything i have put the cart before the horse.

Terry