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Hello just out of intrest due to my son only being 4 month will contact once granted be supervised to begin with and does that mean going to a contact centre and if so who pays
Nobody can predict that Dan. Make sure you ask the court to consider an interim order on your C100 but don't specify where or how for now. Basically the court will try to get the two of you to agree a way forward and if you can't, then a contact centre is likely. Usually the father pays for this and it costs approximately £40 per hour. If you're representing yourself I would suggest that you go on the NACC website and find the centre(s) closest to you, contact them for prices but also to ask about their waiting lists, some are very long and you would need to let the court know which centre has space and when.
There are two types of contact; supervised and supported. Supervised is usually when there are safeguarding concerns and it takes place in a private room and you are observed by the supervisor. Supported is generally in a communal room with other parents seeing their children.
I'm going through a contact centre at the moment. I pay for 100% of the costs including her travel. However this was at my suggestion (I thought I would counter any objections she may have before she has a chance to make them). She still objected but the judge could see I was being extremely reasonable and willing to do anything to have contact reinstated so agreed against her wishes. You'll be able to discuss who pays what at the hearing.
As Yoda has suggested to you, prior to the hearing I contacted all the contact centres local to the court. Phoned them all to ascertain the ones that didn't have a waiting list. From there I picked one I liked the sound of. Printed out a sheet with their address, the services they offer, cost etc. The judge and CAFCASS were pretty shocked when I presented this at the hearing as I had done a lot of research.
The judge was initially going to order that the first session took place within 6 weeks. I was able to counter this by saying no, this contact centre doesn't have a waiting list. I've already discussed the families circumstances with them and they're ready to accept a referral straight away. As such the judge halved this time. I'm glad I did as she waited until the last possible day for the first contact session.
In short do your research prior to the hearing. Find out the cost, if this isn't an issue for you, don't worry about who pays and just pay it. You are after all seeing your son and that's priceless. If you can't afford it get your facts ready to explain that on the day.
Good luck and don't even worry if it's at a contact centre as all that matters is you'll be with your son.
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