[Solved] Advice on Pursuing Residency

Hi,

I think here with you considering asking the court to reverse the residency of the child, there are certain things you will have to prove to the court, ar at least get them to strongly consider.

Of course the ideal scenario in any family breakdown, from the childs perspective, and indeed that of the court is that the resident parent supports and promotes contact between child and non resident parent. Of course in many situations, this does not happen and the resident parent (most often a mother) will disrupt contact. Sometimes it can be to the extent that this behaviour will emotionally harm the child, and indeed abuse their right to a relationship with both parents.

So having said that, if you have:

1 - a wealth of evidence to show that the mother does not promote contact.
2 - a wealth of evidence that shows the mother is cancelling/withholding contact.
3 - evidence that the mother is neagatively influencing the child against the father.

Then of course why not put your case to the court. If it is proving impossible to establish regular contact over a long period of time without the mother derailing it, then why not suggest to the court this course of action.

I would also say it is not just as simple as asking the court for reversal of residence. If it were me doing it, I would back up my arguments and evidence with judgements from previous cases of a similar nature. There are plenty of judgements made by senior judges for reversing residence that you can find online for free. The custody minefield website is one such place that I have spent a lot of time on reading and researching. It's really good.

Simon.

Simon has given you great advice there.

If you decide to pursue this, procedurally you need to complete a form C2 to add to existing proceedings.

Thank you both for your replies.

My Partner has lots of evidence of the Mother blocking contact when it suits her. She has done it pretty much for the whole of last year when she was informed about me. The last contact (by telephone) he had with his child was the very day his 'Statement' was served on the Mother (30 October) which highlighted all the concerns Simon has mentioned in his 3 points. We're of the opinion that the Judge has 'sussed' her out and is giving her enough rope to hang herself but one can never tell how its going to go.

If Cafcass suggest to her that she needs to promote contact and she refuses again, then hopefully the Judge will be only too happy to continue with the Enforcement Order my Partner raised and attach a penal notice or change of Residence to it. This might 'buck her ideas up'. However,we think she's of the opinon that she's above the law and her brainwashing of the child will win the day.

We will look into the C2 form and research other similar cases to highlight to the Judge.

Thanks again.

As your partners application is for an Enforcement Order then the court already has the option of transferral of residence within the warning notice that was attached to the original Contact Order. I would make the court aware of what you will be asking for, have you been asked for statements yet?

As Simon suggests, look for specific case law where residence has been transferred by Enforcement due to a resident parents implacable hostility and alienation of the child.

I'll ask Coram Childrens Legal Centre to drop by and give some advice.

Hi Mojo

Thanks for your reply.

Yes Statements submitted hence the reason for her stopping contact again as she obviously didn't like what my Partner had written in his which documented her obstructive behaviour, reluctance to contact, the impact her unreasonable actions and negativity was having on their child. Her Statement on the other hand was very hostile, made false allegations about aggression and alcohol abuse against my Partner and complained about her own previous legal team and accused the last Judge of talking down to her! She also tried to submit a piece of evidence that was 7 years old trying to pass it off as recent. She is a teacher too which makes it so unbelievable.

My Partner was planning to ask for a Penal Notice and/or a change of Residency to be attached to the Enforcement if the Judge approves the application but we weren't sure if he had to apply for a change of Residency to add more weight to the original application for a Child Arrangement a Order which originally just sought contact. I'll make sure he makes it known at Court that a change of residency is preferable if her hostility to contact continues.

That would be great if Coram could offer more advice. You have all been very helpful and certainly given us food for thought.

Thanks again everyone.

I've asked Coram to drop by and advise, they may take a couple of days to get back to you.

Thank your for your enquiry.

We advise you to make the judge aware that you wish to change your request to the court from contact to residence. In some instances, the judge will accept this as an informal direction within the court proceedings. In other instances they will require a formal request for directions using the C2 form available from the Family Court or from www.justice.gov.uk.

It is open to the court to order a transfer of residence in “intractable cases” where no contact is taking place as a result of the hostility of one parent. This must be in the child’s best interests and is only as a last resort. The court can also issue a suspended residence arrangement which would only come into force if a particular condition applies, e.g. the mother continues to unjustifiably deny contact.

We advise that you produce submissions centred around the Welfare Checklist, to justify why it would be in the child’s best interests to have a transfer of residence. The Welfare Checklist looks at the following:

• Wishes and feelings of the child (weight given to these feelings depends on the age of the child, more weight being given to a child over the age of 11).
• Childs physical, emotional and educational needs.
• Effect of any change on the child.
• The age, [censored] and background of the child.
• Any harm which the child has suffered or may suffer.
• How capable each parent is of meeting the Childs needs.
You may wish to look for relevant case law on this using the resource on www.familylawweek.co.uk. If you need to discuss this further, please feel free to phone our advice line phone service on 08088020008 which is available Mon-Fri between 8:00-20:00.