[Solved] She hasnt put me on the Birth Certificate

I'm thinking about doing the paperwork myself and not paying 10k to the solicitor. However, I guess I risk not being able to get a good result in court.

My own experiences tell me that representing yourself is cost effective but leaves you in the dark and without much chance of success. Without a solicitor or barrister to represent you, Cafcass and the court will take advantage in every way possible. You will be unsure how to proceed, know when to submit evidence, what questions to ask, when and how to appeal if things don't go your way. It's a very confusing and complicated process.

If you can afford it, believe you have a strong case, get a solicitor. But make sure it's a good one.

If you can't afford it, get help from everyone you possibly can. Use free minutes with solicitors, call them up, family rights group, mens help groups, whatever you can. Keep your wits about you and question everything like you're a detective. Think outside the box.

You're fighting against a system that is biased against fathers - cafcass aren't always honest, neither are the barristers and solicitors that they use. I recently attended a hearing where the barrister outright lied in front of everyone to get a reaction and to attempt to discredit me.

Good luck either way.

You could consider a McKenzie's friend - will be much cheaper than a solicitor and they are clued up on family law, However, if you do use one, try to find one via a recommendation as there are a small number of bad ones.

I agree that if you can afford a solicitor get one. My ex partner would never have got such a good result at his fact finding without his clever barrister who used a piece of what we considered insignificant evidence to suggest his ex wife was liar and her lies were all exposed from there on. Court paperwork is complicated to prepare and time consuming and directions are sometimes not easy to understand. They are written in court speak and at the start it can be unclear what you are expected to do. Despite what I’ve read most judges don’t appear to give litigants in person any leeway or help either. He got legal help late in the case and I truly believe if he had it earlier things would have been very different.

His ex also got legal aid on the back of a non molestation order full of lies, he had never been violent towards her and there was not a shred of evidence to back up her ludicrous claims.

This did end up i court, she was represented at cost and I was an LIP and did my own paperwork.

Managed to get Parental Responsibility during first hearing and contact.
Second hearing more contact

At present i have reasonable contact..