[Solved] Advice on Child arrangement 2nd hearing

In short, you don't really need to engage a barrister to solicitor until the final hearing. The aim of the Directions hearing is to determine whether any agreement can be reached between you and the ex based on the recommendations of the S7 report from Cafcass. Cafcass play a very powerful role in the court arena so it is imperative to get them onside.

At this stage, I would let the process run it's course until you are in receipt of the S7 report and have a clear picture as to what they are recommending in terms of how contact should move forward. From there, you could then decide how to approach the Directions Hearing.

Have you tried emailing your ex to suggest that 1 hour per week for a child with one parent is not in a childs best interests? I cannot see how Cafcass would recommend that your contact should remain as it is. Is your ex citing any safeguarding issues? If there are no safeguarding issues then you should be looking at securing an order which would give you a minimum of every other Friday to Monday with an overnight in the week if it is workable (play and supper if not workable), school holidays to be shared equally.

The solicitor wants their fee before they can continue working on the case. Should i hold off until the cafcass report comes through. The next hearing date isn't until 23rd April so still a long way to go.

If i was to go without a solicitor would i need to prepare anything?

In terms of arrangements, our little one is 3 months old. I haven't been allowed to bring him to my family.home yet as his mother wouldn't allow that. So until cafcass report comes through im meeting him at a neutral place.

My ex wouldn't allow me to see him unless i went through court so trying to negotiate with her is off the cards.

Her excuse at the moment is that child is breastfeeding so she is trying to limit the time he is away from her.

hi,

dump the solicitor ASAP and end your terms/contract with them. they will charge you loads for simply sending emails and letters to your ex, which she will ignore anyway.

as others mentioned, pay full attention to the S7 report. Cafcass will interview you as part of process. be very clear on what kind of arrangement you want to see child. and what happens usually, is that whatever cafcass recommends in that report, this is what the courts will follow. when i was in court, baby was similar age. best i could get was court ordering her to give me private room at her place (1st hearing). and i sit with baby for 30 mins every saturday before picking up other 2 kids. mention something like this in your cafcass interview :p

In terms of arrangements, our little one is 3 months old. I haven't been allowed to bring him to my family.home yet as his mother wouldn't allow that. So until cafcass report comes through im meeting him at a neutral place.
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Then you will need to propose a schedule where the baby can spend daytime contact with you as the child is very young, this will work best at your ex's home at this stage. Overnights won't kick in until the child is 2 years old unless your ex agrees to it. I would definitely ditch any legal representation at this stage, there is nothing they can do given the child is so young that you would not be able to achieve via self repping.

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That's some really good advice guys. I really appreciate it.

I'm going to ditch the solicitor, however my last question. Would i need to prepare something for the 2nd hearing? I've been told that i need to prepare a court bundle?

Have any of you had to do that?

Many thanks once again for helping me

When is your next hearing april/may time. I would definitely self represent as there is nothing due to your babys young age a solicitor/barrister can do that you cant do yourself. if you haven't decided a name not sure if u meant 1st name or surname. if 1st name pick 3 perhaps and if shes unsure about surname seems like you be able to push for that as she hasn't ruled this out yet. when cafcass do ring you its important you highlight that you understand shes breastfeeding and contact will be only a few hours as baby cant be away from mum too long. this will show that you are putting child 1st and being considerate , but when baby further downline not breastfeeding you could perhaps have baby 4 hours every weekend for example. you could mention overnights but if ex refused you will probably need to return to family court at a later date

Thanks all for your help guys. Really appreciate it.

Ill wait for the cafcass report. Will i need to prepare anything for the court date.

Also today is my first visitation at a mutual place. Could i take my mother or sister along with me? Or is that not allowed?

Thanks all

hi,

during my court process, later i just got 1 hour to see baby on a sunday every 2 weeks. was local to ex. a coffee shop. i took family there whenever they were available. see if you can arrange something like that.

Don’t use a solicitor . They work on a time basis and charge you just to recieve an email . You can do it all yourself or hire a direct access barrister , mine cost £500 / £1000 depending on what you instruct them to cover . ..

Thanks all for your help guys. Really appreciate it.

Ill wait for the cafcass report. Will i need to prepare anything for the court date.

Also today is my first visitation at a mutual place. Could i take my mother or sister along with me? Or is that not allowed?

Thanks all

hi. just write up another position statement after S7 is out. there will be big focus on whatever cafcass writes in S7 report. usually court ask you to write a response to the S7 report.