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Hi again,
So I'm currently waiting for my first hearing regarding contact with our children.
On Wednesday I saw the kids and ex bought up the court for the first time.
Ex said he'd basically give me till 12 the following day to drop my case or he would do his own repot on me for court and that his solicitor would tell the court to adjourn the hearing till February next yr.
The next day he stopped me in the road and asked if I'd dropped it yet, I said I wasn't discussing it which is what I'd said the previous day, he said pretty much the same again, but made a threat to me and my family.
I informed the police and have to make a statement.
Do you think I should inform the court now that he's done this and also can he really get the hearing adjourned till February?
Hi there
The court would require a very good reason to adjourn the hearing and. His solicitor wouldn't be able to dictate when the next hearing should be.
Your ex will e given the opportunity to write a statement of his case at some point, but this works both way and you'll be given the chance to present your own statement laying out your case and responding to any claims he makes.
If you haven't had an interview with CAFCASS yet you can bring it up with them, they will be making inquiries with police and Local Authorities as part of the formality for preparing their safeguarding report for court. This is called a schedule 2 letter and both of you will be interviewed by the Officer tasked with compiling the report, this usually happens over the phone.
If you wish you can also write to the court to inform them of the alleged intimidation, if you do this you will also need to send a copy of the correspondence to your ex's solicitor as per court procedure.
thanks for the reply
i still haven't had anything from cafcass apart from a welcome email at the beginning of the month. how long does it normally take them and will they send me an interview appointment or just call. also will they be contacting school and police ect at this stage?
i thought that was the case about delaying the hearing.
They should contact you at some point to arrange an interview, it can be left until the last minute with the report handed to you on the morning of the hearing!
Theres no problem with giving them a call and touching base.
It is part of the normal process to contact police and Social services as part of their safeguarding assessment. They may contact the school too, but I'm not sure that's always the case.
If you feel that it would be advantageous for them to speak to the school, you could mention that to them.
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