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After 10 months in a County Court for residency of my daughter I have finally had enough of a solicitor that will not act for me. I am looking to represent myself from now. I wish for the court to request my partner produce a medical report on her depression and use of alcohol, would the court allow this.
The other point is my daughter mother always changes the contact arrangements. When last at court it was week one Friday evening to Saturday evening. Then the other week Saturday only. My daughters mother now what’s the last weekend for no contact to take place. Simply because she feels she does not spend enough time with my daughter during the week. I must point out that at the moment, my daughter is at nursery Monday – Wednesday. Her Mum works the same period. So have Thursday and Friday together.
Has anyone got any advice on self representation?
Thanks in advance.
Hi,
There's a few dads who have represented themselves in court successfully, so hopefully you'll get some advice on this shortly.
A court can cerainly order reports on alcohol addiction - it can be difficult to diagnose conclusively, but you are after a liver function test, and specifically the results for ggt and ast.
Some say it is better to represent yourself, as you know and can usually convey your position better than a third party.
Where are you in the process at the moment, are there any orders in place currently?
You need to be careful in court that you don't come across as trying to 'bash' the mother, keep it focused on what is best for the child.
Have a look at these websites, you may find them very useful for your situation.
The Custody Minefield & FnF
I think it depends on the quality of your solicitor - mine was particularly good, and I'd recommend him without hesitation, but the downside is it can be very expensive.
However, if you read back through Yoji's posts (and he's not the only one), it certainly possible to represent yourself and come out with an excellent result - it needs a lot of time, and above all preparation (plus advice from this forum and CLC of course 😀 ) to make sure you don't get caught out.
Hi flybe1971,
If you are self representing then under Data Protection you would not be able to actually request these documents. Within you court application you would need to include a statement for the Courts to ask that they make a request for a Medical statement/history concerning particularly the depression and alcohol.
You will of course need to make a strong case at Court to ask a Legal Adviser/Magistrate/Judge to be able to make the case for this information.
Actd has provided some useful information too.
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