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Hi, I'm asking this on behalf of my partner as he is too upset with the outcome of his application for a child arrangement order to see his children regularly to function at present.
My partner has two children, 11yrs and 6yrs.
He applied for a family arrangement order back in May 2016 because his ex was trying to stop him seeing the children and continuously swapped and changed days etc.
He kept a diary log from around March 2015 documenting what had been arranged and how she would change it etc. He used some of this documentation in court.
He represented himself because of the cost, and we followed all the rules with regards to sending paperwork to his ex and the court prior to the hearings.
At the final hearing in Sept he was awarded 50/50 time based on one week at a time with the children, providing he could produce a tenancy aggreeement for a 2/3 bed property by the 7th Oct. (he was previously renting with a friend, so they wanted to ensure he had somewhere with enough space but only had 3 weeks to do this)
He found a property and borrowed the money to put deposits down and move in, all on the basis that he would have the children 50% of the time. At the hearing on 7th Oct, which he believed was just to produce the tenancy agreement and have the final document written up. His ex turned up in court producing approx 15 pages of 'evidence' in her words as to why he should not get 50/50. She made hideous allegations and also started claiming abuse etc. The allegations were probably the worst kind any mother could make about a father.
Hi what has happened since the mother produced all this evidence? Is another hearing being scheduled or does the final order remain and is it being adhered to?
She made the allegations on what was supposed to be the final hearing (07/10/16) so the went to cafcass to interview the children then.
They then had the actual final hearing (16/12/16) which is where they changed the original decision of 50/50 that was made on the 7th.
They stepped out of court and his ex text him to change dates immediately. it all just seems a joke. He has had evidence all the way through to show that he is the main parent that goes to the school to support the youngest as he has SEN and his oldest daughter has an eating disorder which he has got support for her.
The mother is useless so why would any sane person give her the main care
I would have thought that after the allegations were made on the 07/10 that the case should have gone to a finding of fact hearing, did that happen? Did he have the opportunity to cross examine the ex and CAFCASS at the final hearing in December? What were the recommendations from CAFCASS after the hearing on the 07/10?
Your partner has 3 weeks to appeal the decision, he wouldn't be appealing on the amended content of the order , but on the fact that a Finding of fact didnt take place, where he was given the opportunity to refute the allegations properly.
Appeals are quite complex, it would be a good idea if your partner got some proper legal advice, some solicitors offer a free initial consultation which he may find helpful.
All, the best
If you don't have a solicitor, it's worth giving Coram a call.
Thank you both for your responses. No my partner was not given a fact finding hearing. We are going to look into getting some legal advice as so far his ex hasn't stuck to anything that was part of the order. Hopefully he will be able to look into getting it sorted properly.
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