[Solved] Direction hearing date is set.. Need help to prep!

Viv,

Do you mean "without" a solicitor??

If you have no contact now, then definitely ask for interim contact. Have you already specified this on your original c100 form? If not, you can produce a position statement to hand to the court usher on the morning of the hearing when you arrive, and specify in that you seek interim contact. The judge should read it before the hearing, so would be aware of your requests. Make it know in the hearing you would like interim contact.

If you take a mckenzie friend with you, it is advisable to inform the court that you wish to have this person accompany you. Under practice directions it is fine to take a mckenzie friend with you. Normally the mckenzie would have a CV to provide the court to satisfy them that they are going to be of benefit to the hearing and have adequate experience. I did this for my 2nd directions hearing and the mckenzie was approved by the court. So send a brief letter to the court in advance of the hearing along with the mckenzies CV.

There are not normally opening submissions in a directions hearing. Take along your position statement, and when you have your chance to speak, you can address the main points you have written about. The judge can then follow along with you and understand your case. Generally your statement should be 2 sides of A4 and relate to a brief history of your case, any concerns you have, and what you propose for contact. Keep it simple and child focused.

Hope that helps.

Simon.

Hi Viv,

Simon has given you good advice here.

Regarding taking a McKenzie Friend, call the court to ask the procedure as they all differ as to what they would like you to do. With my partner's case, they said asking in advance of the hearing was a waste of court time and that the MF was to complete a form at 'check-in' alongside a cv.

Also, have you found an MF yet? Are you using a professional one or taking someone you know? If it's a professional one, make sure you look around as costs vary wildly from £150 (for up to 4 hours) to £600 (which is ridiculous). It's also worth noting that MF's are not regulated so try to use one that's recommended. I would gladly recommend any of the 3 my partner has used but it would depend on your location, Nannyjane helped us find ours so feel free to ask any of us 🙂

Just another thought, if your MF is to be someone you know, just be careful that they cannot be seen to have 'an interest' in your case as your ex could then object to their presence in the court room.....

Hi Simon

Yes! I meant 'without'

Thank you so much for your advise. This is very helpful. I have some contact with the children at the moment, however this comes and goes depending on her mood (or what she wants from me at the time) currently she is refusing to let me have them over night. When I am 'allowed' by her to see them, it is totally on her grounds and time schedule.

I am finding this very stressful and disruptive. And more to the point, the children have no continuity.

I have thought carefully about what would be best for the children and also what I can manage. (I am a personal trainer, so my hours are long and vary from day to day).

Ideally I would like to have the children every other weekend. I would like to pick them up from school on a Friday and drop them at school on a Monday morning.

This way... the children get to spend quality time with me (rather than a few hours here and there) and I would also be able to plan my work around this.

Viv

1626

Thanks for advise.

I was planning on taking my partner with whom I am in a longterm relationship. She is not legally qualified, however she is very well versed in law and her job is such that she is very good at dealing with confrontation and difficult situations.

So will my ex always be given the option to deny my Mckenzie friend??

It would be down to your ex on the day to make this objection. As your partner has a personal interest in your case, this would give her the right to object and then it would be up to the usher or the judge as to whether they will let her in. I would say it would be doubtful and wouldn't look that great on your part.

If you absolutely want to take your partner, you could try to add her as a party to proceedings, I have the number of this form somewhere, I will dig it out and post again or send it in a PM. I know another member on here who has done just that.

My partner used a professional MF and his ex turned up with her Dad. Initially the court refused to let him in due to his personal interest in the case. It was only down to my partner giving his permission for her Dad to go in, that the court allowed it.

As emotions will be running high for you all that day and you want to take an MF in, it would be advisable to either try add your partner as a party to proceedings or find someone else with no interest, be it a friend / colleague or professional MF.

Hi again, it's a C2 to add a party to proceedings and I think the fee would be £90.00 although you would need to confirm that bit of info 🙂

Thanks. I wasn't aware I could add her to the proceedings.

Are there any downsides to doing this?

So we she be added on the basis she is my girlfriend and I plan for her to be part of my future and therefore part of my children's future?

Great advise there mate, it's good the ball is rolling everyone on this site will give you no end of help and as the proceedings crack on you will become less stressed and more confident, good on you for going it alone it takes [censored] and to be honest I think I'm a better person for it and I know I can look my Girl in the eye when she's older and say I fought like a dog for her 🙂

In my opinion, one downside could be that it would rile your ex & I don't know the history of the relationship with your ex to have an opinion whether this would be the case. Whilst you're probably not bothered if you rile your ex, it might hinder you reaching any sort of agreement and it's better if you don't have to go to a fully contested hearing.

Does your ex have a solicitor that will be attending with her?

You will have to weigh up the pros and cons of this, take a day or so to think before proceeding?

In my partner's case, we deliberated adding me as a party as we are engaged, live together and I've been part of their child's life since they were tiny. Also, I have offered to undertake half the travel for any future order (my partner doesn't drive) so therefore it's likely I will be named in the order.
After much deliberation we decided not to do this and to use a professional MF instead (our MF is a qualified lawyer & barrister) , we decided it looked better for my partner that I wasn't there and that his ex turned up with her Dad....That's just what we decided based on our circumstances. Yours may well be different.

It's a tricky one.....Have a think but feel free to ask further questions 🙂

Although I have been a MF in the past, alas not in a family court, my son asked me if I would be his MF.
I decided not to do it simply because it would have caused more problems with the mother of his child,
so we opted for a professional MF instead.
It wasn't that I couldn't have done the work but since I am emotionally involved it would not have looked
very good in court (we felt) if I were to be my sons MF.
The added bonus with our MF is that she has done this type of work before and knows the in's and out's
of the family court system and can advise my son accordingly.
Mind you, every case is different and has it's own merits.

Take care
Kirsten