[Solved] Access for my daughter

First and foremost try not to worry you WILL be able to see your Daughter sooner or later as it is the law that a child has the right to have both parents in her life and the Courts stick to that like glue.

You have two options with regards to getting contact and that is you can self represent and apply to the courts for a "child arrangement order" it will cost you £215 for the application and that's pretty much it but before that you HAVE to try mediation first which will cost around £80 an hour the new rule say you have to try mediation before you can apply for court in most cases I've seen the ex refuses mediation and you can get a FM1 form from the Mediator which enables you to apply to the courts.

You will find a wealth of info on this site and we're a friendly bunch and I can assure you we will help you every step of the way also check out the posts at the top of the legal eagle section about self representing my case seems exactly the same as yours and it's took me 5 months to get contact to see my daughter who's 11 months I finally got to see her on Saturday just gone.

Self representing is doable but it takes time and you need a lot of patience, I have self repped all the way through and I am far more advanced in my case than most people I know who have a solicitor.

Your second option would be to get a solicitor to represent you and you will need extremely deep pockets as they do not come cheap I got quoted £6k - 15k which put me off straight away thats why I went alone and represented myself.

You will need to apply for parental responsibility for your daughter as you have not been put on the birth certificate too but you can fill a C2 form out aswell as C100 which is forms you need and both come under the £215 you pay initially.

Time frame wise it's took me 5 months to get an contact order to see my child and this is only the start it will more than likely take longer with a solicitor as they like to drag everything out as the more letters they send ect the more money they make.

Hope all this helps

Slim 🙂

I would say if you feel confident enough to self represent, then do so. My son went with a solicitor as he was only young and didn't feel confident enough to represent himself and both his and her solicitors have dragged their feet over everything which has cost him a fortune. He is now looking at having paid out about £11,000 and is nearly approaching 2 years. Having said that, his ex has caused major problems and made horrendous false accusations against him, so he would have had to have legal representation to clear his name.

Each time we feel we are coming to the end of the road and progress is being made, she puts yet another spanner in the works. Just hope that this time, the courts recognise this and deal with her appropriately.

Good luck on your journey to be part of your daughters life.

Yeah I'll second what cuddles has said for sure, If you go it alone we all will help you and at the end of the day you know your case better than any money grabbing solicitor 🙂

thank you very much guys, i already feel a bit more relaxed,

I will be representing myself in court as i am a confident person and i know my case better then anyone else, the only thing is that after we broke up the mother has started to make things up and telling her family that i have been violent towards her when she was pregnant, which is nonsense, if that was true she would of reported me as soon as it happened and not after we split up, if she brings those false accusations up in court, what is the process then?

Thanks

Most Women who stop the Father seeing the child make up false allegations mine included, when you make your initial application fill out the C100 ect your EX will receive a copy of your application and there will be a section in her return forms to add concerns she has about you or what harm she sees that you may cause your child.

Once the court receive her forms with the false accusations on them they will instruct Cafcass who represent the child in court will want to investigate these allegations further and they will produce a S2 report for the first hearing at court.

They will want to see any proof your EX has of these allegations and will check your police records ect to see if you do pose a threat to your Daughter, obviously you never done anything so they won't be any proof and courts have seen this a million times but unfortunately the courts are very cautious and they will believe most of what your EX says.

Cafcass will conduct a telephone call with you before the first hearing to get your side of the story and they will do the same with your ex.

Have a read of my dealing with cafcass post at the top of the legal eagle section 🙂

Slim 🙂

Thanks slim, im going to citizen advice tomorrow and will keep you guys updates in the process

Good luck with them mate they are absolutely clueless, They will just give you Solicitors numbers and direct you to the internet lol

are they? ill give them a try anyway and then ill have to start to research on how to actually start the court claim, first i gotta prove im the dad and find a way to be on the birth certificate

Have a good dig around on this site you will find everything you need to know but your first point of call will be to find a decent mediation service so you can offer mediation to your ex and see if they can work with you both to come up with solution to avoid court.

ok thats great thanks mate

They don't know mate thats the problem they are useless, you first point of call is try mediation so find a mediation service in your local area book an appointment with them then they will arrange for you and your ex to come in for a session.

You have to try mediation before you apply to the courts its now the law.

If mediation doesnt work out or your ex doesnt show you will be given a FM1 form which you then take to your local family court.

You then go to the family court office and ask for a C100 form and a C2 form so you can apply for a "child arrangement order" (c100) and the C2 form is to apply for Parental responsibility, proving that you are the father will come when the court process starts you can't really prove it before hand thats what the C2 form is for and you are applying for Parental responsibility because you are not on the birth certificate.

If you were put on the birth certificate you would automatically have Parental responsibility and because you are not you have to apply for it.

Slim 🙂