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I split up with my ex earlier in the year we have 2 small kids who i love and adore to bits. I have a new girlfriend who I live with and have been for a few months now. me and my girlfriend have been together for 6 months. I am only allowed to have my kids every other saturday for a few hours why my ex goes to work and on a wednesday evening i take them to see my father where we have tea. On a saturday my ex wont let me take them to my house shw will only let me either sit in her house, go to my nan's or my dad's, this is very limited as if they are not in on those saturdays i am either stuck in my ex's house or the car if the weather is bad. She is very rude and can be abuse to me she only seems happy when i pay her mainanace once a week. My new girlfriend is very supportive and has even said she would nort be in her own home so I can take the kids there on my saturday.
I am really at the end of my teather it is breaking my heart.
can she stop me from taking the kids to my house where i share with my girlfriend, she said she has spoken to some one and has been informed that since i have not been with her for a year is this true?
any advise would be great
Hi NikkiBrown1,
Welcome to Dad Talk.
I can understand how it would be very limiting not going back to your home with your to small children.
It wasn't clear in your post whether you were married to your ex or named on the birth certificates. I think these things can quicly make it easy to work out if you have Parental Rights (but I know very little around this area).
I have forwarded this post to our legal expert and would expect them to post a reply here within a couple of days - so keep checking back.
Its great your girlfriend is supporting you and helping you keep with your children.
By the way, I hope you don't mind, I've moved your thread to the Legal Eagle board.
I was never married to my ex but i am on both of my kids birth certificates, my girlfriend is very supportive she cannot help more. I no it must be hard for my ex but its been a long time now and i hope one day she will stop being bitter and get on with her life. I feel isolated and i might as well have supervised visits with my kids. I dont really want to take her to court and I would struggle to send her solicitors letters as i do not qualify for legal aid
You don't really want supervised visits - they are very restrictive and there is no justification. If you don't qualify for legal aid, and you can't afford a solicitor (and I would warn anyone embarking on this, it can be very expensive), then look at representing yourself. The courts are very understanding that people who represent themselves don't know the procedure and are foregiving in this respect - they are there to look after the best interests of the children, so as long as you keep that in mind, you should be OK.
Dear nikkibrown1
It is not clear whether or not you have parental responsibility from your post. Parental responsibility, in everyday terms, means an ability to have an input into major decisions relating to the children. If your children were born after 1st December 2003 and you are on the birth certificate then you will have parental responsibility.
Unfortunately, parental responsibility does not give a right of contact with a child. The children themselves have a right of contact and if the children are considered too young to exercise that right then it is up to the resident parent to decide how much, if any, contact to allow.
There are ways which you can gain a set amount of unsupervised contact with your children. The first option that you should consider is that of family mediation. Most parents who apply to court for a contact order try mediation first. The courts generally like to see that the parents have attempted to resolve the problems themselves. In many instances, legal aid will only be granted where mediation has been tried.
If mediation is unsuccessful or your ex-partner refuses to attend then you have the option of making an application to court for a contact order. A contact order is an order made by the court under s.8 Children Act 1989. The order makes clear who shall have contact with the child, how often this will be and how long the contact will be for.
Going to court can be a stressful and expensive experience. It is a 'last resort'. Before making an application for an order parents should seek legal advice. It is possible for a parent to make an application themselves, but there are advantages to being represented by a solicitor. A solicitor will know and understand the process and procedures and can help reach agreements.
The court must only make an order where they consider it would be better for the child to do so rather than making no order at all. To make an application to the court you can either use a solicitor or alternatively act for yourself as a litigant in person.
If you are going to act for yourself because you do not qualify for legal aid then an application to the court can be made by filling out a C100 form and sending it to the court. You can obtain the C100 form by visiting the Her Majesty’s Court Service website ( http://www.hmcs.gov.uk ) or alternatively you can visit your local county court to collect the form.
Guidance on how the children and family courts operate can be found by following this link: http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cour ... 1_0806.pdf . There is an application fee of £175. Once the form has been completed you should return it to the court with the fee. The parties involved will receive a date on which to attend court.
The court will make a decision regarding what contact to allow based on what is considered to be in your children’s best interests.
If a contact order is put in place then your ex-partner cannot override this. Your ex-partner will be bound to follow the order and there are penalties for breach of a contact order.
We hope this information has been of use to you. For further clarification regarding this issue or any other issue of child law then please do not hesitate to contact the Child Law Advice Line on 08088 020 008.
Kind regards
Children's Legal Centre
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