[Solved] Directions hearing this week for varying a court order

Hi there

As the position statement hasnt been requested by the court, she may not want to provide one, or equally she could turn up with it on the day.

A position statement should be no longer than a couple of pages long, with no attachments, if she turns up with one, it's likely to be as a response to yours and brief enough for you to read it through and take some notes on it before going into court.

I wouldnt worry too much about it, you've probably been asked to arrive earlier than the hearing is to take place, get there a little earlier still just in case.

All the best and good luck for Thursday

Thanks Mojo I appreciate the reply and plan to get there earlier than I originally was. I'm only asking for relatively small changes to our current court order (extending alternate weekends to include Friday nights, and alternating Christmas's/Easters) so I'm hoping they will go through but i had so much trouble with it last time that I'm trying not to leave anything to chance. She made a lot of accusations about me during the court case.

I'm sorry to ask another question so soon but I've had a report from Cafcass this morning thats' going to court. There a lot of accusations made against me that are simply not true, or at best taken very much out of context. I've emailed Cafcass twice this morning and rang them but haven't managed to talk to anyone yet. They've said if there are any factual inaccuracies in the report to let them know. Do you know if they'll be able to change the report at this stage when the directions hearing is on Thursday afternoon?

Hi,

Talking from my partners experiences...i am a partner of a dad going through a similar situation where he is trying to vary the order to extend contact on alternate weekends to start from Friday etc)

From previous experience of handing in statements... In my partner's example, the court requested a position statement from both parties, my partner sent his to court and his ex but did not receive one back from his ex. On the day, they gave him about 5-10 minutes (outside of the court room) to read her position statement and then went back in to discuss matters.

Seems unfair as they could have based their statement on yours but just have your points ready as to why it would benefit your son to have extended time and why its in his best interests.

Also with what was said to cafcass -on one occasion my partner sent them an email and cc'd the court and his ex in the email with the court reference number. I don't know if that would help in your situation or not?

Hope that helps, good luck

Thanks for that. I'm expecting that now to be honest, She has legal advice from her work and im guessing they will be with her there in court also. It's good to know what to expect in advance tbh so hopefully it will go ok. Agree as well that it does seem very unfair.

That really does help on the Caffcas side as well. I haven't heard back so far, but I may do that if there's nothing by tomorrow on this.

How far have you got with the process so far? I've been told it will likely be three hearings if there's no decision reached this week.

On a separate note I wonder if one of the admins could help me changing my username on here? I've gone to edit my account and I can change my name but not my username, and its the username that showing on the posts. Sorry, just maybe should have used a more anonymous name!

Unfortunately, due to my partner and his ex being in court 5+times in the last year and half and each time his ex made a new allegation against him they have decided to carry out s7 report. So we are in a much longer process now.

In previous hearings he had the first hearing, and because both parties did not agree or find mutual grounds it went to a final hearing which is generally 6-8 weeks after. The courts then made the decisions for them but i think they prefer if the parents can come to an agreement they are both happy with.

My partner went to court and the judge said to the mother to expect friday night to be granted and put a date for them to come back and vary the order. When they went back the judge they had that day said there was nothing wrong with the order and said they need to discuss and communicate these matters...its all dependent on the judge!

So my partner reapplied and so we are in the process of s7 report

Hes only ever had 2 hearings first and final but there is nothing to say if matters were more complicated it could be 3 hearings.

I wouldn't worry too much if she's got someone representing, just remember your focus is your son and why the variation of the order will benefit your son

Hi DL

...Could you send me a PM with the username you'd like to change to please and I'll get it changed for you, Admin are pretty quck at responding.

Thanks

Thanks Mojo - have sent PM.

Sorry to hear about the s7 Ldad, i've just looked up what it is.Does really annoy you how easy it would be just to agree on the access, we wouldn't go to court in the first place if we didnt want to be good parents.

Two hearings would be great tbh. I'm expecting quite a bit to go the courts decision so hopefully it will be a good judge. We had 5 hearings going for the original court order, although one was cancelled last minute by my sons mum but I still turned up. She insisted then that the access was a gradual increase which significantly delayed the process but we got there in the end. I'm concerned that reapplying might undo all the good work originally as she's really gone to town on me in the cafcass report! Can't believe virtually my only comment on it is that I believe she's doing a great job as a mum, and going to court is no reflexion on that!

Hope the s7 report goes ok. Applying for the original court order was one of the best things I ever did, think i'd just forgotten how hard it is going through the process to get it before I applied for the variation 🙂 In the long run though im sure it'll be worth it for both of us.

Thanks Mojo I appreciate the reply and plan to get there earlier than I originally was. I'm only asking for relatively small changes to our current court order (extending alternate weekends to include Friday nights, and alternating Christmas's/Easters) so I'm hoping they will go through but i had so much trouble with it last time that I'm trying not to leave anything to chance. She made a lot of accusations about me during the court case.

I'm sorry to ask another question so soon but I've had a report from Cafcass this morning thats' going to court. There a lot of accusations made against me that are simply not true, or at best taken very much out of context. I've emailed Cafcass twice this morning and rang them but haven't managed to talk to anyone yet. They've said if there are any factual inaccuracies in the report to let them know. Do you know if they'll be able to change the report at this stage when the directions hearing is on Thursday afternoon?

Your case should be relatively straightforward, because what you're asking for is reasonable. However the court has a duty to investigate any allegations that are made. As she has made these allegations to CAFCASS they have felt it necessary to make the court aware of them, as is their duty. They won't amend them and it's probably too late to make changes now anyway, they'll most likely tell you if there's anything you disagree with, to bring it up with the judge at the hearing. Factual inaccuracies are things like wrong names, or dates... that kind of thing.

You can write a brief response to the report and ask for permission to file it on the day, in it you can mention any evidence you have that backs up your case. Don't attach it to the statement, but take it with you and tell the court you have it with you if they wish to have sight of it.

Admin will be taking care of your name change tomorrow.

Just to add.......if you have regular contact taking place and are simply looking to extend it, she's going to look ridiculous making allegations. If a parent has safeguarding concerns, then there is no reason why one night is any different from two nights for example.

You didn't need to submit your PS that far in advance and yes, she can bring one with her today if she likes. If the court think her allegations have any weight, they might want to do a report but will question why she is allowing contact at all I would imagine.

Hopefully, you will get a firm handed judge that will try and get her to agree to vary so that things don't have to drag on.

Thanks Mojo and Yoda. The court case went reasonably, although we didnt agree to any of the points. It was several meetings with the cafcass officer followed by about an hour in the court room. The mum did bring up a lot of issues which the judge did question us both about, but he seemed to be happy enough with the responses I gave and moved on to trying to sort out any agreements he could on the order. Would we need to go through the same cafcass points at the next hearing with the magistrates would you know?

The next hearing is scheduled for the middle of next month and from what I gather its the final hearing so i'm hoping it will go well. Going on the directions hearing i'm guessing the decisions for all points will be left to the magistrates to decide, but i'm hopeful they'll at least give me most of what i've asked for.

I'll keep you updated on how it all goes, but thanks again to everyone on here, really is a great site that wished i'd found earlier.