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
Hi there. I am new to this forum and have read some of the posts. It is so refreshing to see that there are websites that support dads and recognise that children have 2 parents.
I have 2 children - both from 2 separate marriages. I am happily married and live with my youngest child. I have a child with my first wife who I have not seen for some time due to her refusing contact. I have a child contact order in place but she refuses to abide by it. There is no history of abuse, addictions, violence etc - just purely a very bitter ex with an axe to grind and keen to alienate me from my child's life.
To cut a very long story short - I am going through the family courts again for access to my child and had my Section 7 meeting with Cafcass. There was no mud slinging at all and I remained child focused. The cafcass lady told me that from what she can see, this is a very clear cut case of parental alienation and that she has concerns that the mother's mental health problems are having a negative effect on my child. She said it is not unheard of in a case like ours for a judge to switch custody based on the mother's behaviour and lack of co operation.
She is due to meet with my ex wife this week then go to the school to see my 8.5yr old.
My question is - would a judge really switch custody? My C100 is for a child contact order (which i already have and is still valid) as opposed to full custody but I want what is best for my child. All jokes aside, my ex wife would actually commit suicide if our child was taken from her which is not what I want but if she is indeed a risk then I would fully support me having full custody.
Have any other dads been awarded custody or been in similar circumstances?
The straight answer to your question is, yes, it's not unheard of a judge transferring residency due to parental alienation, not common, easy nor quick, but certainly possible.
I know of 4 cases of transfer of residence to father. They are not pretty ordeals. One thing that must be made clear is that residence is the mother's to loose, but if the CAFCASS officer is mentioning it that's positive for you, just be under no illusions, they usually try other things first before transfer of residence.
Some of the characteristics of the cases I know about include:
- Case moves up from magistrates to district to circuit judge.
- The father hasn't seen the child for months.
- There is a finding of fact made that the child is being harmed by being denied a relationship with one of the parents.
- The targeted parent is supportive of the child maintaining a relationship with the alienating parent if the alienating behaviors stop.
This published judgment might be of interest to you:
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWFC/OJ/2017/B24.html
thank you very much for your reply. I read the link attached to your post and it was in part like reading my own situation with my child.
The Rebecca Minnock case was well publicised 2 or 3 years ago.
One of the judgments from the Rebecca Minnock case is available at https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/judgment_of_8th_June_2015.pdf
Hi there
The CAFCASS officer in charge of the S7 seems to have been very fair minded, hopefully she will follow this through in the preparation of the report.
Parental Alienation had a mixed reception with some judges, but it is slowly being accepted and CAFCASS have some newish iniatives for dealing with cases involving PA, such as the High Conflict Pathway and the Positve Parenting Programme. You may also find that the court may appoint a Guardian to represent the child in court.
Transferral of residency will be one of the last solutions that the court will order, they will look at other options available to them first. So whatever the outcome you will have time to adjust to that possibility...re establishing contact between you and your child will be the priority, once the reports have been provided to the court and no safeguarding issues found.
All the best
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.