[Solved] Help

Hi There,

welcome to the forum,

You can be a MF at court as long as the other party is ok with this, I would write to the court informing them that this is your wish so they know in advance, my ex used a family member as a MF and I was asked if this was ok, before she was allowed to enter the court room.

When you arrive at court there will be people to advise you of what to say and do, so inform them when you arrive and they will be able to ensure the judge knows what you are wanting with regards to MF.

I'm not sure on the interim order, when mine was put in place it was done at the first hearing, i'm sure someone will give more advice on that though.

If ypu go into our legal section on this forum there is a post giving some great advice on how to self represent through court have a read through so you know what to expect.

And please feel free to ask any questions you have.

It is also worth mentioning that your son will be expected to attend mediation (if he hasn't already) before the court would make any final order, this won't effect any interim order though.

GTTS

thank you for your advice. My son has been to mediation but his ex didnt turn up. He cannot win whatever he does, her family have threatened him and just shout abuse at him so he feels he cannot go to their house to see his daughter and his ex has blocked his number so he cannot find out how she is doing that way either. I will pop a letter in the post to the court about the MF, he just really needs me there for support more than anything.

I hate all this, its all so unnecessary...

Thank you

Hi there

Is your son named on the birth certificate?

As your son is the applicant only he can write a letter to the court asking for permission for you to be his MF. Just a word of caution, some judges don't like the MF to be a close family member and this may prevent permission being granted.

As far as interim contact is concerned, this should have been requested on the C100 form, so it may not be dealt with at the initial hearing. It might be helpful for your son to write a letter to the court requesting that time is set aside at the first hearing to discuss interim contact.

Whenever a letter is written into the court, or documents sent in, you should always send a copy to the other party or their solicitor if they have one. It won't be necessary to do this with the letter asking for permission to have you as an MF though.

This link may help you to understand the process

https://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/family-justice-reform/pd-12b-cap.pdf

Hi, as NJ says, definitely make sure you're given permission to attend in advance as your son's MF prior to the hearing and bear in mind his ex can object to this on the day.
In my partner's case, his ex turned up with her Dad as her MF (don't know if they asked permission prior to the hearing), the court said no way and after much tears from the ex, the court gave the decision to my partner, lucky for her he was reasonable and said this was okay.

I've copied and pasted some information from the Practise Guidance on MF's that will show what you need to include in the letter and this is a link to the full document;

http://www.familylaw.co.uk/system/uploads/attachments/0000/8125/McKenzie_Friends_Practice_Guidance_July_2010.pdf

6) A litigant who wishes to exercise this right should inform the judge as soon as possible indicating who the MF will be. The proposed MF should produce a short curriculum vitae or other statement setting out relevant experience, confirming that he or she has no interest in the case and understands the MF’s role and the duty of confidentiality.

It might be worth having someone else in mind as an alternative just in case the court says no or you get an objection on the day.

Good luck 🙂

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your help and advice, my son wants to see his little girl asap, so we dont want to do anything that may delay this process.
I am sure I will be posting some more questions and I'm pleased that even though I am not a dad i can still get some advice.

Ask away, everyone on here is really helpful, been a lifesaver for my partner's troubles 🙂 There's a few of us on here that are female!

In many cases, it can be time consuming and frustrating, but it does get better. I have only been signed up to dad.info for a few days and the advice received has already helped me as i am sure it will you and your son too.

You have all really helped restore some faith in us. Your advice has been invaluable, my son put a letter to the court together last night and will put it in the post today. Asking for some time at the first hearing to discuss Interim contact and also asking if I can be his MF (not sure that will happen as his ex hates me) but with your advice I have asked another friend of mine to step in if his ex refuses me.

I finally feel like there are some lovely people out there with some excellent advice and suggestions.

Thank you