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I am trying to find out if I have any legal rights to see my little girl. The little girl in question is not mine by birth nor does she have my surname etc. I have raised her with my girlfriend since she was 2months old. She has always called me daddy, i have taught her how to walk and had regular contact with her always. have been her dad and will always be her dad, now for reasons of incivility i have decided to stop my relationship with Ellie's mother. She has now refused me access to her.
Can you help or point me in the right direction as i refuse to loose my little girl or let her be used as a weapon.
Please any help???? as its not straight forward i do not know to turn
Hi there,
I'm not experienced in this area, but it is my understanding that as things stand you don't have a legal right to see your little girl.#
However you stand a very strong chance of being granted the legal rights to see her through the courts if you need to go that route.
I'm sure there are others on here who have been through this so keep checking back as I'm sure they will coment when they log on.
GTTS
I dont think i have any legal rights either, which is upsetting but thanks for your response, love to hear from anyone else in this situation
If you are the only Daddy she knows and you have a strong and established bond with her then you can apply for Parental Responsibility. Heres a link to the .gov website that explains it.
www.gov.uk/parental-rights-responsibilities/apply-for-parental-responsibility
I would act quickly, apply for PR through the courts and also for a Contact Order. You should try Mediation first though...at mediation you could ask her to agree to a Parental Responsibility Agreement and contact, but if agreement cant be reached you can apply to court for both. Mediation is the accepted first step before going to court, if you attend and she then refuses or mediation fails you will be issued with form FM1, which you would then submit to court with the C100 and C1 forms. There is a charge for Mediation unless you are on benefits or a low income, in which case you will be entitled to legal aid. Heres a link to the legal aid calculator and the mediation service.
www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid
www.nfm.org.uk
PR is applied for with form C1 and contact with C100. This will cost £200 unless you are on a low income or receiving benefits in which case you can claim an exemption. You will need form EX160a for this.
You can of course get legal representation, this will be very expensive but you can also represent yourself, there are lots of Dads here that have taken that route. f you look at the top of the Legal Eagle section you will find 2 stickys about representing yourself in court and one about the C100 form which you would need to submit to apply for contact.
- Samaritans – call 116 123
- Shout – text the word ‘Shout’ to 85258
