[Solved] custody battle coming up

You are right that you can't [censored] about her, but you can state facts, and make sure you give praise where due. If you have any evidence to back what you are saying, then you can show them that.

If court order CAFCASS to get involved they will take in to account your childs wishes and feelings based on age, maturity and understanding. as yours has already stated and is now living with you then keep child focussed and ensure that CAFCASS understand that this was his decision and backed by his mother.
sounds like she's missing the child benefits / tax credits or whatever it's called these days hence her starting proceedings.

stick to facts, remain child focussed, show them how well your son is doing in school, in his self defence classes and with friends etc..

hi thanks for answering back any advice on the sort of questions i will be asked on friday when they call me ?

also what happens on the first court hearing .

when you state the fact . so i can tell them she attacked me with a knife in front of him.

how much will they listen to by son who is 10 in a few weeks . he has not been asked to be spoken to yet ,

You will be asked all sorts of questions relating to your relationship with your son, his relationship with his mother, your relationship with her etc.

If she attacked you did you report it to the police? if so then you should tell them that as she sounds a potential risk to you.
if you have any evidence of these the abuse that you have suffered or have reported them to the police then state that to the CAFCASS person...only things you can prove will help you....everything else will be classed as your word against hers...."bitter ex -vs- bitter ex"

CAFCASS won't talk to your son until ordered by the courts to do so, their call with you is for them to get the background of the issues and to report any safeguarding issues to the court.

If or when the are ordered to speak with your son they should ask him what he wants in all this and they will use their "tools" to identify if he is being coerced in to saying things or really feels that way....at 7 they took my child's wishes and feelings at "face value" despite years and years of evidence that parental alienation and the ex's anxieties were influencing factors.
CAFCASS officers "opinions" can be a lottery from the stories for and against that you hear and read. but don't get worrying about that for now.

stay child focussed....state why it's in your son's best interests to remain with you...be factual...be truthful...be child focussed...his needs outweigh yours in all this.

great starting to feel abit better.

so i can say she attacked me with a knife which was reported not the first time 2 accounts of that.

she smokes

goes out every weekend.

stays in bed most the day

said to the child i cant fu..... wait till you move out with your dad

turned one of my daughters against me

made my son walk to school when he didnt want to.
etc etc

Sorry for the delay in responding, been preoccupied with my own situation.

Stick to stuff you can prove and stay child focussed, why it's in the best interests of the child or why it's not

The fact that the ex, smokes, drinks, goes out drinking, stays in bed all day, makes your child walk to school, all that will sound like you're just slagging her off...unless you can show it as it is a risk of harm to your child.

Swearing at children is not acceptable to me but unfortunately some see it as the norm and how they bring their kids up...my next door neighbour thinks it's funny that her 5yr old child punched another kid and then called the kid a stupid c*nt when the teacher asked him why he'd done it

steer clear of what will sound like you slagging off, it'll just been seen as you being bitter.