Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
sorry im new to this forum discussion thing hopfully im in the right place !! lol anyways heres my story
im 24 and 6 weeks ago my expartner gave birth to my georgeous little girl we split up in march this year on ok terms .
since then she didnt want me at the hospital which i cud understand she also has her registered under her familys 2nd name .
since summer has been born my ex partner is only letting me see her on tuesdays for an hour and on saturdays for an hour which in my eyes is both petty and selfish but me being a proud dad will not cause any fuss over this as i dont want to have an atmosphere around my daughter its all on her terms at her parents house .
well my problem is that my family havent met her yet and i would like to have my little girl over night and maybe on weekends has any one on here been thru court to get access and what rights do i get im going to get legal aid and use a solicitor and take her to court if possible could admin put me in touch with a expert on this situation or can people kindly leave me some messages im stuck and all i want to do is spend quality time with my daughter
thankyou all
hope i can get some usful info
to all the proud dads out there good on ya keep up the good work dont give up and keep fighting for whats ritefully yours 
😀 P
Hopefully, your solicitor will sort this out best. You need a contact order as what she is allowing you seems far, far to restrictive.
The only point I'd raise on this is whether your ex is breast feeding (hopefully, she is still) in which case, there may be a practical reason for the limit in contact as your baby will need regular feeds. However, once she's onto a bottle, then you need to get your contact increased so that she can bond with you properly.
Dear Glen_Crowhurst,
Thank you for contacting the Children’s Legal Centre, an independent charity concerned with law and policy affecting children and young people.
At present your ex partner is able to control all contact as your daughter lives with her, and this means that she is able to legally restrict your access in this way and even stop your contact altogether, however she should only act on what she believes to be best for your daughter and attempt to be reasonable regarding the matter.
Unfortunately grandparents do not have any rights at all and so the decision as to whether or not they see your daughter is up to you and the mother to decide and she is able to restrict this also.
If you are registered on the birth certificate then you will have Parental Responsibility, which gives you a legal right to a say in your child’s upbringing (this is what replaced parental rights), however this does not give a right to contact. No parent has any right to contact with their children unless a court order is in place, it is children that have a right to see their parents, and at present your daughter is too young to make decisions so it does fall to the parent that she lives with to make these on her behalf.
Should you and the mother be unable to come to an agreement that you are both happy with, then the first thing to do is always to suggest mediation and you should do this in writing if possible. The contact number for National Family Mediation is 01392 271610 and they will be able to give you further information on this.
If still no agreement can be reached, then your next option is to make an application to court for a contact order. You said you have a solicitor and so they should do this for you. A contact order is an order that states the days and times you are to see your daughter, it is legally binding and the mother can be penalised for breaching it.
The court will hear the case and both yours and the mother’s arguments and will make an order based on what is thought to be best for your daughter. There is a general presumption that with younger children the contact should be little and often, rather than for long periods of time further apart, and it is quite unusual that overnight contact would be granted for such a young child, although it is the courts decision and they will grant whatever they feel is reasonable.
If the court orders that during your contact time you are able to take your daughter away from the mother’s home then you will be able to take your daughter to see your parents during this time, and the mother will not be able to prevent this if the court are happy for this to happen (which they usually would be).
It is very rare that some kind of contact is not granted to a non resident parent.
We hope that this information is useful to you, should you require further advice please contact the Child Law Advice Line on 0808 8020 008 and an advisor will be happy to help.
Kind Regards
Children’s Legal Centre
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.