[Solved] preparing a bundle/bile for first hearing

I'm at court tomorrow and ive done a full folder full of stuff , photos dates and a full diary to boot. my advice is go fully prepared always.

Best of luck tomorrow mind if I ask how you prepared the bible etc what you put in it I have some idea's what to do but some pointers would be good and find out how you get on tomorrow?

Hi Dazz please let us know how you got on today and how much of the bundle notes you made you required, as Im thinking the same, the hearing is 15 minutes long and we are already getting 2x7 hours of unsupervised contact a month and going for overnight stays, so We dont know how much stuff she will drag up

Hi Guys just back from court, obvious due to the proceedings i cant go into any specifics, but here's what prep work i have done.

I have completed a diary everyday since we split up ( this year) paying special attention to things i have done with the kids.

I have completed a photographic diary of things i have done with the kids and dated each photograph to match the dates and events in the main diary.

I was pretty luck as my ex partner has said to the school that she was worried about my sons behaviour and asked for a social worker to do a report on the children.
In this report my ex mentioned everything she was going to bring up in court, so i listed everything and had answers prepared, the big thing here is to have times and dates ready and reference to the diary ( my bible )

The Cafcass officer rang me 2 days before hand and i mentioned about not being interviewed in the report and i felt it was bias towards my ex's feelings.

The cafcass officer said she would probably recommend a section 7 report to the court which i wasn't happy with.

The day in court, i have a very good interview with a male cafcass officer and he asked my feelings about having a section 7 report being done. i told him i thought it was not needed. He agreed.

I had all my prep work done and ready and i showed him some photos and info about my self and my ex partner and my time with my children.

We then went into court with a court advisor and he advised that i just go along with my current contact and see how the children progressed, i said i wasnt happy with this and would prefer to go in front of a judge as i felt strongly about increasing my over night contact with the children.

The Cafcass officer then suggested we go on a pip and then mediation. we then all agreed much to my delight.

But my advice is when going to your first directional hearing is do not be easily persuade by the court advisor , stick to your guns, ask for pip and then mediation. doing this will go well for you if it comes in front of the magistrates.

Hope this helps.
regards

DAZ

Hi
Thanks for the update, how old are your children and what contact have you now and what did you ask for

Somehow I dont think PIP or mediation will be happing with me the Ex has stated she will only allow access via a court hearing/order. And I've not had contact since 2008 when she stopped me phoning her up. What's a section 7 report?

ive asked for 14 nights a month. i currently have them every other weekend. a section 7 report is cafcass interviewing everyone and their granny and it takes months. they then make a decision on how the children are doing with both parents.

Just a little word on the Magistrates, should things not go quite as well as you’d hoped and the ex causes more problems than resolves then they just do not have the power of enforcement that County Court have.

Late 2011 when I still had a solicitor he was unable to attend and a barrister was his stand in….Well that was the best move my solicitor could’ve made….the barrister realised how awkward the ex was being with her legal people and suggested to the magistrates that the powers of the County court would be better used in our case with her being so obstructive given the proven false allegations and lies.
So….may be when at court if you’re not getting anywhere may be worth asking would County court be better placed to force things forward quicker?

I started my legal battle just over 3yrs and 1 week ago! but I feel I’ve made much more headway since the County court judge took it over!

which ever way you go try and see if you can request the same judge for each hearing.....in my case so far i've had the same judge reserve the hearings for himself as he is a very aware of the problems my ex has been causing me this last 18-20months!

That is some excellent advice, and I agree, if the judge seems to have a good grasp of the situation, it's always worth asking if it can be listed back to the same judge again - and it's not something your ex can say in court that she doesn't want to happen.

the more us guys know what happens in court the better. i went into my first direction hearing fully prepared on thursday to find the cafcass guy had really good advice. Basically if its not complicated then ask for a parental inf program and then mediation.

Then a 2nd hearing. .

What advice i would give , is if you are wanting extra over night contact , the courts and cafcass want to see the children settled.

I work shifts so they are not interested the children being with me inbetween shifts on school nights. meaning 1 or 2 nights when they are at school. BUT if you have a block time off like 7 or 10 days off in a row then cafcass will back you as the children will be settled and in a routine. 😉

Hi Daz. As you say more we share the better so many thanks.

I was interested to know the reason you gave to justify saying a section 7 was not needed?

And also was interested about your experience that Cafcas will back you in increased time if you can have a block of days in a row rather than 1 or 2 nights.
How have you put this forward to having 14 nights, is it by tagging time onto the start or end or both start and end of your current every other weekend?

Has anyone else come across this?

I ask because I think my ex would disagree with both saying the children need settled time not 1 or 2 nights but then on the other hand she would say that a number of days would be too long (for her), so it would help if I new which one Cafcas go for.

Thanks

ok bit late reply but here is some answers. cafcass prefer the children to have a settled routine even with the father, they would prefer a block of days rather and a couple here or there.

Ok here is where im at now. been to pip then attended mediation, the ex would not mediate in the same room, but i negotiated hard and now have the kids all weekend and drop them off at school on a monday, got a few hols and christmas, we didnt agree on increased contact during school time and summer hols abroad. went back to court and discussed mediation and the extra contact we agreed.

Told the court i wanted extra over night contact during term time and summer holidays abroad with the kids, court said we now go for the final hearing. They were pleased that we had some agreement via mediation but i said i was wanting increased contact and prefer to finalise it at a final hearing. The way i look at it ive now gained a lot from the pitiful 2 night a month i had to now 6 nights a month and loads more hols. we'll see what happens in court next month.

Nice to hear someone else finally getting somewhere great news.....small steps but take every one you can....your kids are worth it.

good luck at the final hearing

OK everyone here is final info on my court case. Sent in my notice of intent over a month ago and used your guys template with a little bit less info, hand delivered to the court office and got the clerk to check it and signed it in front of her. Good advice here, always hand deliver and get them to check if possible and sign in front of the clerk.

The final hearing went well and the magistrates gave me everything i asked for.
My experience with this , do your home work on the court process , look very smart from the start, be early for every attendance, always say it's for the children's best interest. mean what you say.

Don't be worried by representing your self in court , but my advice is be prepared. keep a diary of everything, i did and it worked well.

Keep every text message and mails from your ex and screen dump and print them all, i also did a photo diary of my time with my children, i also kept proof of all activities i had done with the children while i was with my EX.

best advice is go to court prepared with dates , times and examples. but remember it must be in the children's interest.
My agenda was simply to have my two kids and enjoy our time together and not have my ex dictate when and where. It wasnt anything to do with the csa money i pay.
The whole court action lasted 7 months with me pushing all stages of the court action.
Don't go to a solicitor if you can do it yourself, i was quoted £5000.

If you guys need any help with the court or cafcass stuff just mail me , im more than willing to share me experiences .
regards

DAZ

My contact is going well at the moment should have next (2nd) hearing in July any pointers on what to prep for this time? I expect it will be about gaining overnight contact etc on this to move along I don't think there will be further CAFCASS involvement.

I would say simply keep a diary of everything - if it's all going well, you're doing it all right 🙂