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Hi guys, well we had a previous hearing whereby it was called upon relatively quickly (within 8 weeks from the last) and the reason being was to ensure that there was closure to the proceedings.
My ex wife has a court hearing at the beginning of November with her ex partner and it was requested by the judge that the next hearing would be after this.
Contact is now ordered to be within a contact centre for the next 6 months.
Cafcass have continued involvement.
We received a letter today stating the next court hearing will be the end of January. I'm absolutely gutted. As a family we really need closure on this and the longer it runs on the worse it becomes.
Is there a chance that I could write to the judge and ask for it to be brought forward? It is with the same judge who has requested the case to be reserved for him.
Is there a chance that within these 4 months she would have enough weight behind her to state that she has 'changed'. I think it is pretty clear that son is staying with us. Or do I have nothing to worry about.
The last court appearance my ex wife had someone with her who is helping her as a victim of domestic abuse. He spoke in court and I thought this wasn't allowed. Can I request that other than legal representatives no one else is there?
Thanks for your help once again in advance
Regarding the 4mths to the next hearing i was in the same boat March this year, the judge at the hearing assumed that it would be listed within a month, but when the order came through it had listed it for a date over 6mths away in Sept.
i imediately contacted court via email and was told they had nothing before that date, i asked if there were other courts within the area (county) that could list it and was told the same...no slots for full day listings 🙁
if it is listed for more than an hour then you may not get anything but it's worth contesting it by writing to the Judge via the court manager, asking for it to be brought forward due to needing to prevent it from emoitionally harming your child, they should put it to the judge for comments, don't hold your breath cos you may still have to wait the 4mths if that's their only slot available.
with regards the DV person assisting your ex i can't comment on, when my ex had claimed DV she had someone in court with her from Women's Aid supporting her, she also had a solicitor on legal aid through her deceptions....however, both of those stopped pretty quickly once i'd proven her a liar and she eventually admitted that i'd not hit her as she'd been claiming for almost 2yrs.
I would have to ask who this person is and why they are allowed to speak in court if not a legal representative, don't do it confrontational but in a "simply asking who they are way"
I don't think they will transfer you're son back to his mum, even if she gets on her feet, he's settled with you now and doing that would not be in his best interests, it would be damaging to unsettle him after there has been proven harm by his mother.
I think it would be counter productive to request she isn't supported, but you can certainly ask the questions as dad-I-d suggested.
If it were me, with supervised contact now in place for the next 6 months, see how your child is with his mother, they will be making reports on this, if your son shows distress this will be noted.
You could look at it the other way... she's got 4 months to mess up again, that's her MO isn't it... and at least your child isn't in the mix and can't be hurt by her, except when she doesn't show up.
Your close to the end now, you just have to be patient a little while longer and I'm hopeful it will turn out ok.
All the best
If the person supporting her wasn't a solicitor, then they will have been admitted as a McKenzie Friend and will have had to apply for 'rights of audience' unless the judge just decided to give them automatically, but that is very rare.
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