[Solved] Help! My partners ex won't let him see his daughte

hi

Firstly, you aren't "just" the woman in his life - if you care about him and his daughter, then you are very important. The simplest solution is to aim to get there very early so you give yourselves plenty of leeway in case of bad traffic. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that she is being unreasonable in the fact that she's not being at all flexible. The first step to resolving this would be mediation - try www.nfm.org.uk . If that doesn't work, then you would be looking at court, which he could self -represent, so there would be the initial cost of the order of £215 (I think) and that's all the costs he would have, apart from his time and travelling.

Hello Jessica,

Do you stay with relatives when you go to see your fiancé's daughter or stay overnight in a bed and breakfast / hotel ? If the latter you could find a place halfway so that the Mother can travel the other half of the journey. Having said that I doubt whether she would agree but if the matter went to court this could be something you request the judge to consider and he could make a ruling on it.

I'm not too sure on this point but I think travel expenses can be applied for if maintenance is paid via the C.M.S. Does he pay maintenance by this method or is it a private agreement with the mother?

Do you have the child for half of the school holidays? This should be available to you. It would reduce your travelling a little and increase the time spent with your daughter.

Does your fiancé have Parental Responsibility, is he named on the Birth Certificate?

You say you have contacted Citizens Advice and they have said quote, "you can implement an order but they can't force the mother to carry it out." If a Court Order is obtained and not adhered to the Mother would be in breach of the Court Order and that is totally unacceptable to the court. However, when some mothers breach a Court Order through scullduggery it can cause a more protracted battle but not always as some judges are very astute as to the games that are played by this type of mother.

Some solicitors offer a free 30 minute consultation. If you wanted to pursue contact through the courts and represent yourselves this is very feasible as many on here have successfully achieved gaining contact by doing that. Also this site has a wealth of information and would guide you through the court process. As actd has commented the court process begins with mediation and if the mother is not agreeable to this the mediator will give you the appropriate form to enable you to apply to the court straight away.

Hi there

It's not clear in your post whether the contact visit is for just a few hours or is the full weekend. If you and your partner are only having a few hours every fortnight, you would probably do well to make an
Application for a Child Arrangements Order, that would usually include a full weekend every fortnight and a share of school holidays.

It's obvious you care a great deal for your partner and his child and you are right to do everything you can to encourage him to stay in his little girls life. Court is daunting but it is doable without a solicitor,there's lots of information about the process in the stickys at the top of the legal eagle section, which you may find helpful.

The CAB have given you the wrong advice in my opinion, if a mother breaches a court order, it is possible to apply to the court for enforcement of the order and the judge has various penalties that he can use to make the mother do as has been ordered; from fines to community service, giving residence to the father and even prison! ( although that is very rare)