Father's access problems

[Kosenurm]

Hello,
My brother in law has just had a child with his ex girlfriend. The child is now 2 months old, and living with the mother and mother's mother. Due to arguments relating to the father's new girlfriend, the mother of the child has now said that he can only see his son twice per week, only at times suited to her, with no real justificiation.

There are no concerns regarding violence etc, or mistreatment of any kind. The brother in law is a good father and, whilst the baby was not planned, they are both attentive parents.

The father's mother went to try and mediate the situation last night, but ended up getting into an argument with the baby's mother who has refused to be flexible, and will not discuss the situation further. The father is now considering taking matters to court in order to reach a mutually-agreeable visiting pattern, set down in stone.

Please can you advise of the steps to do this? In addition, please can you give me some indication of likely timescales and costs?

Many thanks,
K.

[charitynjw]

Re: Father's access problems

Anyone know anything about http://www.fathers-4-justice.org/ ?

(Apart from 'the painting', that is!)

Oh, & Hi Kosenurm (my bad!)

[leclerc]

Re: Father's access problems

Hello,
My brother in law has just had a child with his ex girlfriend. The child is now 2 months old, and living with the mother and mother's mother. Due to arguments relating to the father's new girlfriend, the mother of the child has now said that he can only see his son twice per week, only at times suited to her, with no real justificiation.

There are no concerns regarding violence etc, or mistreatment of any kind. The brother in law is a good father and, whilst the baby was not planned, they are both attentive parents.

The father's mother went to try and mediate the situation last night, but ended up getting into an argument with the baby's mother who has refused to be flexible, and will not discuss the situation further. The father is now considering taking matters to court in order to reach a mutually-agreeable visiting pattern, set down in stone.

Please can you advise of the steps to do this? In addition, please can you give me some indication of likely timescales and costs?

Many thanks,
K.

If no agreement can be reached then the legal recourse must be taken.
Can I ask whether the times that she has suggested is convenient to him?
The child cannot be used as a weapon and to be honest, the father's mother should keep her nose out of this since it should be about what is in the best interests of the child and that is paramount. If he is working at the times that she suggests then he should tell her whether she can change the time due to his working. I would simply add that he should at the moment, tread carefully as the child is only 2 months old and bonding with the child is paramount in this early stage of a child's life.

[Madcow1961]

Re: Father's access problems

Has your brother in law done everything possible to resolve the situation ( has formal mediation been suggested/ tried ) ? Going to court should always be the last resort.

if he truly has no alternative tell him to pop down to his local magistrates court office who will be able to give him the application form which is c110. From memory the cost of the application is 150 quid. Other costs and the time it will take will depend on how oppositional it is or becomes but you can expect that cafcass will be appointed to do an assessment of both parties and prepare a report making recommendations as to likely future contact and which in itself is likely to take 12 weeks to complete.
does your brother in law have parental responsibility for the child? (Ie is he named on the birth certificate as the father) if not he can apply to the court for this also.

The courts overriding concern is the welfare of the child and the rights and wrongs of the parents will form no part of their deliberations- so the frequencyand duration of any contact ordered will be based on the child's needs. You also need to remember that the court may order DNA testing to prove he is the father and this can costa round 5-600 quid.