[Solved] Any advice greatfully received

Hi! Just being a boring admin person here, generally recommend you don't put people's real names in the post - we are not that strict, but your son's name (nice name!) was fairly unusual and it's wise to have some annonymity. So I've done some minor tweaks... hope that's okay.

Very annoying to hear about your problem with the post - if you can think of anything that might help us reproduce the problem please PM us.

I now that the people that know about this side of parenting check reguarly so they should post fairly soon....

It is hard being away from your kid - so I hope you can get some stability back into that relationships.

Nice one thanks for that - makes sense though - - hopefully can get some advice though as I'm at a loss and no idea what tod do for the best! Oh and when you say to help "reproduce the problem" - not sure what your after there??!

Hi Lomaxn81

Thanks for your post. We have asked our legal experts over at the Childrens Legal Centre (CLC)to respond to you question as they have all the legal knowledge. I imagine however that going through the courts and getting things arranged more formally will be the best route for you in getting more contact. CLC may take a few days to respond so do bear with us.

Glad to see that our Admin guys took out your sons name as yes it might be best to keep that kind of stuff private. 😉

Thanks Harvey - is there a tel number or something I can get to contact them....... Thanks in advance

Nick

Hi Nick

Here is a link to the Children's Legal Centres contact details.

http://www.dadtalk.co.uk/directory_of_s ... l%20issues

cheers 🙂

Thanks Harvey

Dear Sir,

Thank you for contacting the Children’s Legal Centre, an independent charity concerned with law and policy affecting children and young people.

A child’s birth certificate can be re-registered until the child is 12 months old, either to change the child’s name or to place your name on the birth certificate. A father’s name can also be added beyond this time limit. For any alterations to the birth certificate the mother will have to consent.
If the mother refuses to consent then the only option that you will have will be to make an application to court for a Specific Issue Order.

The court are able to grant an order stating that your name be placed on the birth certificate if they feel it is appropriate to do so, and the mother’s consent will not be required for this.

If you are named on the birth certificate then you will gain Parental Responsibility automatically.
Parental Responsibility entitles you to a say in the major decisions affecting your sons upbringing, for example schooling, religion, medical treatment and travelling abroad.

The other way for you to acquire Parental Responsibility is to enter into an agreement with the mother on the prescribed form (form C(PRA1)) and to have this witnessed by a court official and lodges at the Principle Registry, or to make an application to court for a Parental Responsibility Order.

With regards to maintenance, it is your choice whether you continue to pay according to the agreement that you have with the mother or whether you wish to involve the CSA. At present the arrangement you have is agreed, and so you are able to alter this if it is no longer appropriate, but should keep evidence of payments.
Either you or your ex partner can contact the CSA at any time and ask them to do an assessment.

It is your choice whether you are happy to continue with the agreements that you have in place or whether you would like a more official arrangement. If you and the mother are able to agree then this will allow you some flexibility and court can be avoided.
It is also advisable to attempt mediation before going to court to see if you can reach a more suitable agreement. The contact number for National Family Mediation is 01392 271610.

If you and the mother are still unable to come to an agreement that you are both happy with then you are able to apply to court at any time, even if contact is not being refused.

At present, the mother is the resident parent, which means that she is able to control what contact you have with your son, although she should be reasonable about this and only act in the child’s best interests, she does have full control of this situation.

If you choose to make an application to court you are able to apply for a contact order, which would be an order stating when you see your son and the mother would be legally bound to comply and make your son available at these times.
You are also able to apply for shared residence, which means that your son would live with both you and the mother, although not necessarily in equal amounts.

The judge would make his decisions based on what is believed to be in the best interests of the child. Contact of some form is generally granted as the court like to promote contact when it is safe for the child to do so.

It would be for the court to decide what sort of contact is appropriate, such as overnight contact, after hearing all the facts.

We hope this information is useful to you. Should you require further advice please contact our Child Law Advice Line on 0808 8020 008 and one of our advisors will be happy to assist.

Kind Regards

Children’s Legal Centre

Thanks fir the info and advice.... have researched during the weekend and think that mediation would be best route to take and then should this not work the court route....