[Solved] Mother taken our child

Do you have any mutal friends or are you in contact with any of her family? This might be a good way of trying to make contact, even if they are just able to let you know they're ok & pass on that you'd like her to contact you. Otherwiae does she have the same email or a facebook? These are the only ideas I have, hopefully others will have more. Really hope you're able to make contact soon and start being able to see your daughter again.

that sounds like a pretty bad situation for u. does ur daughters mother have any sort of history of doing this sort of thing, ie, before ur daughter was born? have either of u ever had and contact with social services, or the csa, etc? these may be worth looking into. i really hope that u can make contact ur daughter soon, it is something that u and her both deserve. keep us in the loop mate, as i have found, this is one of the best places to find good advice and a decent bunch of people who really want to help. good luck

HI Gibbs and welcome

I will ask CCLC if they can give any advice - ideally you need to apply for a contact order (obviously mediation isn't going to work in this instance) - I'm not sure what the situation is where you don't know the whereabouts of your ex.

Dear Paul

Thank for your enquiry. It is important to establish if you have parental responsibility for your daughter. You would have Parental Responsibility if:
• You were married to the mother;
• Your name is registered or re-registered on the birth certificate after the 1st December 2003
• You have a Parental Responsibility agreement with the mother;
• You have a Parental Responsibility Order from the court;
• You have a Residence Order from the court

Parental Responsibility is defined in s.3(1) Children Act 1989 as being: "all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property". In practical terms having parental responsibility means sharing the rights and responsibilities to make important day to day decisions about the child, for example where the child is to live, which school they should attend, which religion they should follow and whether or not they should receive medical treatment.

If you have Parental Responsibility you have all of the above rights and responsibilities for your daughter, if however you do not have Parental Responsibility it is advisable that you acquire this once you are aware of your daughters whereabouts, details of how you can apply to have your daughters whereabouts disclosed are detailed below. If you do not have Parental Responsibility for your daughter you can acquire this through one of the following procedures;

• Firstly you can acquire Parental Responsibility by re-registering the birth of your daughter with your name on the birth certificate. This is subject to the mothers consent.

• Secondly you can apply for a Parental Responsibility Agreement, this is an agreement made between a mother and an unmarried father to allow the father to have joint parental responsibility, both parents will need to consent to this. A parental responsibility agreement can be applied for through a PRA1 form. This form can be obtained through a Local Family Proceedings court or the www.justice.gov.uk website. There is also a fee which will need to be attached and sent with the form. Once you have completed the form you will need to hand the form and fee to your local Family Proceedings Court.

• If however the mother does not consent to either of the above you can apply for a Parental Responsibility Order. A Parental Responsibility Order can be applied for through the following process; an application can be made by filling out a C1 form. This form can be obtained through a Local Family Proceedings Court or through the www.justice.gov.uk website. There is also a £200 fee which is applicable. Once you have completed the form you will need to hand the form and fee to your local Family Proceedings Court. In regards to the fee if you feel you are entitled to a fee exemption or reduction you can complete a EX160A form to check your eligibility.

As you are unaware of your daughters whereabouts you can file an application for a Disclosure of a Childs whereabouts. This can be applied for on a C4 form. This form can be obtained from a Local Family Proceedings Court or from the www.justice.gov.uk website. There is also a fee applicable. Once you have filled in the application form you will need to hand the form and fee to your local Family Proceedings Court. Once your application has been filed you will be contacted with further directions. In regards to the fee if you feel you may be exempt from paying or entitled to a fee reduction please fill out an EX160A form.

Whilst filing the above C4 form at the same time you can also apply for a Contact Order. A Contact Order is a legally binding document setting out contact times and dates, if there is any breach of this order on the part of the mother you can bring the order back to court for enforcement. A Contact Order can be applied for through the following process; an application can be made by filling out a C100 form. This form can be obtained through a Local Family Proceedings Court or through the www.justice.gov.uk website. Once you have filed your application you will then be contacted with further information about the next step forward. In regards to the fee if you feel you may be exempt from paying or entitled to a fee reduction please fill out an EX160A form.

If you feel you would prefer to have residency of your daughter instead of contact you can instead apply for a Residence Order. A Residence Order would legally recognize you as the resident parent and it would also state that the child is to reside with you. You can apply for a Residence Order on a C100 form, this can be found from your local Family Proceedings Court or from the www.justice.gov.uk website. There is also a £200 fee applicable. Once you have completed the form please hand the form and fee to your local Family Proceedings Court. Once your application has been filed you will then be contacted with further instructions. In regards to the fee if you feel you may be exempt from paying or entitled to a fee reduction please fill out an EX160A form.

Contact is seen as the right of the child and not the right of the parent and the law does in majority of cases regard contact with both parents as in the Childs best interest unless there is serious child welfare concerns.

If you have any further questions please contact us again via our webchat facility. The link to our webchat is http://www.childrenslegalcentre.com and can be accessed Monday to Friday 9am-6pm. Alternatively you can contact us on our freephone advice line which is 0808 8020 008 and available Monday to Friday 8am-8pm.

Yours sincerely,

Coram Children’s Legal Centre