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What can be done if a mum stops the father seeing his kids?

4 replies

2manychips · 09/10/2008 21:08

My brother, being threatened with this,she has no court orders,injuctions etc-but she can still shut the door in his face.She has no cause to-she is an extremely irrational,unpleasant individual.He is so upset.

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shelleylou · 09/10/2008 21:58

He can apply to tthe local family court for a contact order. The court will decide what contact is best for the kids. Your brother and his ex have to stick to this as there can be repercussions think the usual consequence is being found in contempt of court i may be wrong on that though.

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GypsyMoth · 09/10/2008 22:53

he needs to get to court pronto,file his c1 form.......costs £175,and state his case!! if using a solicitor he needs to request interim access too. nip this little contact blocking witch in the bud!!!!

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mumoverseas · 10/10/2008 07:34

In the first instance, he should write to her (keeping a copy of the letter in case he has to later resort to Court proceedings). In the letter he should set out what contact he requires and emphasise that he would want it to be dealt with amicably, but if not, he may well have to commence proceedings. If she ignores this, he should perhaps then get a solicitor to write to her (this sometimes has more of an effect than the father simply writing!). Then if still no luck it will need to be an application via the local County Court for a defined Contact Order. Does your brother have Parental Responsibility (PR)? He will have this automatically if married to the mother when the child was born or if she was born in the last 5 years and he is on the birth certificate. If he doesn't have it, its not a problem, he can simply apply for PR at the same time as applying for the Contact Order.
As said above, he needs to file a C1 application, available from the local Court or their website. The application should be filed in at least duplicate (making sure he keeps a copy for himself). A lot of the early stages can be done by him in person but after the first hearing he may decide to instruct a Solicitor.
Once his application is issued, he will get a Court date (anywhere between 6 to 12 weeks depending on the Court) At that fist hearing, him and his ex will have a meeting with the CAFCASS officer (formerly called the court welfare officer) a person appointed by the Court to assist with resolving the matter. You would be encouraged to reach an agreement at that time, but if not possible, you would then go before the District Judge (DJ) who would make an order for the CAFCASS to file a report (usually within 12 weeks but sometimes longer) The DJ may in the meantime order there be contact. The CAFCASS would then meet with both parties separately (sometimes with the child if appropriate) and file their report and give recommendations. Both parties would then file their own statements and there would be a further hearing.
Hopefully however, it would not come to this as once an application is issued, this tends to get the rather difficult mother to be a little more reasonable!