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Right, this is difficult because we have now found out after 3 years that our Son is not the biological father having had a dna test done at her request.
HOWEVER we want to fight access and will detail below how we have been there all the time for the child who is now 3, and hope we have rights.
I appreciate there may be two issues here, Him and Us regarding any such access and they may be totally separate but here goes.
My Son and his girlfriend found she was pregnant around 4 years ago, though they had split up for two weeks during that time.
He stood by her and was with her throughout including at the birth.
After a year they split but he continued to pay maintenance.
Up to when she was 3 years old we had his daughter stopping here 2 days a week (also sometimes for 10 days which I will detail later)
He also had her on saturdays and took her back sundays.
She found a new partner online who lived a long way away and he fathered a second child, they split up and then after a while she wanted to rekindle the relationship so dumped the child on us both times for a round 10 days (we loved it)
She decided that her daughter was getting upset when she returned after seeing her father, saying things like "when will I see daddy again" and out of the blue stopped ALL access between My Son, Us & our Daughter 3 months ago.
I know the child is terribly upset (and confused) because when the dna sample was taken she was shouted down when she asked if my daughter could stay and play with her and look at some photos's etc.
This is causing terrible, terrible heartache for us all and I wonder if anyone knows for certain the answer to the following.
Is it likely that we would be allowed access as we have been in the child's life for 3-4 days EVERY week?
Even if access was granted, if she still refused then is it a civil matter and just a waste of money or could she be forced to comply.
I would really like some feedback if possible please, before he spends any more money with his solicitor.
thanks
Hi there
It's always so distressing.... bio or non bio you love the child unconditionally.
To be honest grandparents have no rights to contact, it was discussed judicially recently and decided that Grandparents rights should not be recognised and left things as they were.
That said, grandparents have applied for contact through the courts but success is very patchy. If you were to decide on this course of action you would need to ask the permission of the court before making an application. The form that you would need to do this would be form C2
Your son could ask to add you as a party to proceedings, this is done with form C2 again. This would mean that you would all be involved I the court process and be allowed into the courtroom.
As far as his chances, it's very difficult to second guess what a judge will decide as they vary wildly in their outlook.... That's why Orders for contact also vary wildly from judge to judge.
I have known non bio dads having success in court and some that have not.
If the court decides to grant a Child Arrangements Order for contact to your son, there are no guarantees that she will abide by it. Every order has a warning notice attached, that the order must be adhered to under threat of enforcement.
If an order is breached an enforcement order can then be applied for, but in all honesty this isn't a straightforward process, as many judges are loathe to use the penalties at their disposal anyway....it can go on for a long time with very little movement, during which time having no contact becomes the precedent.
As your son has had almost 50/50 contact up until 3 months ago and is paying maintenance it may go in his favour, but he must get it into court asap to maximise his chances.
Good luck with it.
Thanks for your thoughts
If possible could this be moved to legal section, I posted it wrong
...it's in the Legal Eagle section, so no need to move it.
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