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Hi all,
I am now acting as LIP
I potentially have a court date next week (waiting on confirmation)
This will be from a C2 and the judge has requested Cafcass there to respond to S7.
What do I need to do?
Should I have a McKenzie friend?
I have a draft position statement. And what I want to happen. What else do i need?
Getting a bit nervous now and want to do this to the best of my ability for my son.
Thanks
MH
You don't really need anything else, it's good to make yourself a copy of the PS with some notes on it should you need to expand on the points.
You don't have to have an MF and if you do, they don't have to be a commercial one, it can be a colleague or friend with no interest in your case.
If you do choose to take a commercial one, do your homework.
Worth having a look on here to see if anything in your area as well;
http://lawworks.org.uk/clinics
Sure one of us would have a look at your statement if you feel you would like a second pair of eyes or you could go along to a Families Need Fathers branch meeting in your area for support and guidance.
Good luck 🙂
Court date confirmed for next week.
Would really appreciate advice as to whether to ask for residency change to me or go with cafcass 6 days with me a fortnight.
Concerned if I go for all I could loose, but concerned if I go with cafcass that might be alli get long term.
Thoughts please?
MH
What you ask for has to be your decision. You need to weigh up the reasons for asking for a change of residency, I haven't been around much lately so I'm afraid don't know many details of your case.
It's not usually a case of if you ask for something that you would lose what Cafcass have recommended.
Judges don't always follow Cafcass recommendations, you need to put your position forward clearly in your statement...If you decide to go for residency, you will need to lay out your reasons for this clearly - use the Welfare Checklist to see the points the court considers when making the decisions.
Remember when you are writing your statement that residency no longer exists, it is a Child Arrangement Order that lays out where the child lives with each parent and when.
Good luck
As 1626 says, you are unlikely to "lose out" if you ask for something different to the CAFASS recommendations. I think it's advisable to ask for more than you would be happy with anyway, as this allows you to be seen to compromise.
My feeling is that if CAFCASS are recommending 6 out of 14 days , asking for a 50/50 split with shared residency isn't far away from that.
If you go for full residency within the CAO then you are less likely to be successful as courts only agree to a transfer of residence where there are serious safeguarding concerns.
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