[Solved] Need custody help

Hi there

It was most definitely the right thing to do, as parents it's our responsibility to protect our children from harm and that is exactly what you're doing.

I would advise you to apply for an urgent no notice Prohibited Steps Order and a Child Arrangements Order for your son to live with you. You do this on the C100 form and it's also a good idea to submit form C1a to tell the court about the risk of harm to your child.

It is advisable to take the forms to the court in person, that way you can impress upon the staff that your child is in danger of being removed from your care, that social services are involved and there is serious risk of harm. They should get you in front of the judge asap.

There is a fee of £215 to submit the forms, but if you're on a low income or receiving benefits you may be entitled to a full or part exemption, you would need form EX160a to apply for that.

When an urgent no notice application is submitted mediation isn't required beforehand and no notice means that the mother won't be informed until after the hearing. If the judge makes an order it will be an interim order and you will have to return to court to allow everything to be investigated in more detail so that a final decision can be made.

if you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask and please do let us know how you get on.

All the best

Hi

Are you planning on putting in an emergency application? Usually in cases like this when one parent takes the step of removing their child for safeguarding, an emergency application is usually the way forward.

Given the history of the matter and the recent incident your son has witnessed, I cannot see that you have any other choice but to make the application to keep your son safe.

If you're self repping, have a good look through our stickies at the top of the Legal Eagle section and please feel free to keep posting, we will do everything we can to support you.

Thank you very much for your advice, it really is appreciated. I am going to do the emergency application and attach a C1A form with the additional information.
I am going to be self repinng so this is very useful to me also.
It is such a stressful thing to go through but despite everything I have done my best in putting my son's needs, safety & welfare first.
I was very confused about the mediation thing which is the only reason I have held off making an application. I spoke with someone yesterday who advised me that I would need to attend mediation regardless but you have cleared that up for me.

Thank you both

If you have time, it would be helpful for the judge if you write a brief position statement, just a couple of A4 pages at most, giving a brief history, the issues and what you'd like to happen. You would need to number each paragraph and sign it, keeping a copy for your records.

If you use the search tab at the top of the page and put in position statements you should find previous posts with a template that you can use.

Best of luck

If you have time, it would be helpful for the judge if you write a brief position statement, just a couple of A4 pages at most, giving a brief history, the issues and what you'd like to happen. You would need to number each paragraph and sign it, keeping a copy for your records.

If you use the search tab at the top of the page and put in position statements you should find previous posts with a template that you can use.

Best of luck

Thank you, is there a guideline of what to put in to a position statement? I have never done this before so am unaware of how to format it. I definitely have time. This is for the benefit of my son and I cannot allow him to return to such a toxic environment.

Thank you once again

http://www.thecustodyminefield.com/flapp/positionstatements.html

http://media.wix.com/ugd/69743a_6f5457e9a07b43ae9dcb67ef4be27cf2.docx?dn=Position%20Statement%20Template%20with%20questions.docx

Hi again, I have downloaded the form C100, can I just ask a few questions please?

How many copies do I need to submit to the court?

In the section which states nature of application, obviously this is an emergency application so what do I put in the box? Also do I need a prohibited steps order if I have applied for the emergency residence, if so why? As stated contact is currently supervised & very much up in the air because it seems to be at the mothers convenience. I have offered her contact but she has refused so I am unsure what to put here.

Hi

You need 3 extra copies of the C100 so that you have a copy, plus one for court, one for mother and one for CAFCASS.

You need to tick Prohibited Steps Order and Child Arrangements Order.

Nature of application - something like 'an order to show who the child lives with, how much time they spend with the other parent and to prevent the mother removing the child from my care due to safeguarding concerns'

Further along in the form there is a box about why you have applied to the court. You can put a little more brief detail there. If you write a Position Statement, you can expand on what you have put in the form.

You need to apply for the PSO to prevent the mother removing the child from your care whilst proceedings progress and safeguarding can be carried out.

Good evening, I today filed for child arrangements order, prohibited steps order & a non molestation order. The judge saw me and granted the PSO which was obviously a great outcome. The court date is in a few days and they will be serving the respondent tomorrow.
In the meantime my ex has refused any contact and has appointed someone who has contacted me now claiming to be her solicitor. He is asking for contact arrangements to go through him. I find this totally unnecessary and as a result of her being non responsive with everything so far.
The judge ordered that I continue to sort out contact but how can I do this if she is refusing to deal with me. I don't know this 'solicitor' from Adam, he has even texted me this instead of any letter etc. So far a few people have become involved from her side and I am finding it quite intimidating.

Any advice is appreciated.

Your ex is entitled to engage a solicitor and insist that you deal with them instead of directly with he, so ask the solicitor for the full details of the firm and google them and call the office number.

If it turns out that this message isn't from a genuine solicitor, then check this out http://www.sra.org.uk/bogus-solicitors and report him, and tell the court what has transpired. Keep the text messages and all other correspondence with your ex, as this could bee very useful.