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Hi and thank you for letting me post in the forum.
This is a very fresh case and I apologise if its long winded alas its a nightmare.
3 years ago I started a relationship with a woman I met through friends she was in a relationship with the Father of her two daughters one aged 6 and a 4 month old.
After a couple of months she parted with the girls Dad and after a few months I moved into her flat with her and the children, within 6 weeks she’d been evicted by the local authority, we had nowhere to go but luckily my parents and hers agreed we could both go between their homes ( luckily enough both sets of parents had lots of empty bedrooms )
We ticked along nicely for a while but after another few months I began to think what I have I done as she was prone to violent outbursts and paranoid episodes. One evening she was helping my Mother with and outside catering event, she’d obviously had quite a lot to drink, when she got home she sat with my Dad and accused me of being a horrendous liar and she had proof I sneaked off to spend time and money on prostitues, my Dad laughed and said don’t be silly. When my Mum got home she had words with her as her behaviour in a working capacity had been shocking. My Mum was annoyed she’d driven home. She then proceeded to attack me and I pushed her off me and she fell back and broke both her wrists as she broke her fall. I felt very guilty even though it wasn’t intentional so instead of being true to myself I continued the relationship. Relations with both sets of parents were becoming fractious so her parents said they’d buy a mobile home and put it in the back garden. My Mum gave her some regular hours in the family cafe and things seemed to improve. She announced in early July that she might be pregnant, she obviously knew she was, she insisted I pay for a private scan so she could find out how far pregnant she was. Low and behold she was nearly 6 months pregnant and I found it hard to believe she didn’t know. By the by I’m nearing 30 and am very pro life so I thought it might be the making of us. My son was born in November 2016 I was thrilled. Due to the cold weather and poor facilities in the mobile home my Mum and Dad suggested we move back in with them. They offered lots of help and support and were great with the kids. Christmas came along and my big soft Mum invited her whole family for dinner. I offered to babysit on New Years Eve so she could go out with my sister and sister in law. She came home bladdered and got very aggy. My parents have a huge flat above the cafe and they suggested we move in there until we could sort out adequate housing. My little brother had just moved out and although not perfectly tidy my parents gave us 6 weeks free rent. Once in the flat things began to decline again, She started having more paranoid thoughts. They were so bad she accused me once again of using prostitutes this time they were climbing up a ladder into the bathroom having a quickie and leaving. She approached my Mothers staff and asked them to check cupboards and make sure I wasn’t hiding them in the cafe, she then had her sister follow me when I went out. My little sister became so concerned she rang her parents and voiced her concerns, my parents were on holiday and the whole two weeks were ruined by her sending spurious allegations. This continued into summer of 2017. One day my Mums cook approached me and said I think your other half is pregnant again, I laughed and said she would need to be at least 4 months as we no longer shared that kind of bond. Nest thing I know its a repeat performance of last year only this time shes just over 6 months gone. In December 2017 my second son was born, once again I was elated. My younger step daughter has always called me Dad and I thought I was doing a great job providing love, financial and social support to my growing family. In April we were offered a new house through social housing. We slowly moved our stuff into the new house and within a week things started to go drastically wrong, she started leaving crazy rants on facebook, she accused my sister of hacking into her facebook and email accounts. One day when my Mum and sister were dropping the boys off after a day out she chucked my sister out of the house, my Mum normally keeps her mouth shut and deals with me directly . On this occasion my Mum said enough is enough so she was then chucked out. We had a couple of odd weeks and my family were denied time with my boys. Very unfair considering she used to dump my eldest boy on my parents at every opportunity and he is used to spending a couple of nights a week with them, even taking trips up north to spend time with my Grandparents and extended family. She eventually relented and allowed my parents to have the oldest boy for the early may bank holiday. Then a week later she called my Mother and in a very weird voice she accused her of stealing her tax credits and writing emails from her account to our new housing association. All unfounded of course, although she did say she had proof in a letter, it transpires that she’d been overpaid due to her lack lustre approach to completing forms. Next thing i’m accused of having [censored] upstairs with her friend who’d come to visit for the day, she was like a woman possessed and once again the allegation was totally unfounded. I decided to go and spend a few days at home with my parents as her behaviour was wearing me down. After a couple of days away I missed my boys and quite honestly I was worried about her state of mind. My parents collected my boys at the weekend as they were going on holiday on the 17/5 and wanted to see them before they went. We had agreed to look after the family dog when they were away, she seemed happy even posting how wonderful her life was and how much she loved me. ( I don’t use facebook but have copies of all her odd statuses). My parents had been away for 6 days and she accused them of entering the house and moving furniture and also of tapping her older daughters phone. I laughed at her and said they’re in the Caribbean and you can’t just jump on a plane and get there and back in a day. On Friday the 25/5 I got up for work, gave the kids their breakfast and went upstairs to say i was off. She kicked off but as this was the norm i thought nothing of it. She called me and insisted I came home and helped her with the kids. I just ignored her but said i needed to pop home and grab my passport as I needed some id for a hire place. She then went garrity and said if I didn’t come home I would be sorry. She then called me and said she reported me to the police for raping the 3 year old, once again I laughed. I then began to worry so called her Mum and asked her to check on her. I didn’t think anymore of it until I went to drop my tools off at my parents house. As I entered the car park I was surrounded my police. Myself and my friend were both arrested for rape she alleges she caught me raping the child and my friend was recording the whole incident. By this time I’m shaking. I was then taken into custody, stripped, examined and my clothes taken for forensic examination. When I was eventually interviewed the allegation had lessened she now thinks i may have sexually assaulted her child if not me maybe someone had entered the house and done it. After 15 hours I was released without charge pending further investigation. I was told not to approach her. The police stayed outside my parents house until late in the evening waiting for a search warrant to be issued this was refused. My sister and sister in law had to go and collect the dog and when they arrived she was walking up and down calling me a rapist and saying they can’t have the dog because she is the only witness. My sister was very very concerned but there was nothing she could do. My parents tried to call her parents and ask what the [censored] was going on, my Dad is very annoyed with all of us as he has questioned her mental health for over two years, things have been so bad that my Mum emailed all of us in and voiced her concerns and asked that one us try and help her. She never did get a reply, thankfully this was sent on the 28/4 a month before the rape allegation. Last year I asked her to go to the doctor and see if he could help, I only have her word that she went. My Mum suggested she may have post natal depression this was laughed off. Sadly as in all cases hindsight is a wonderful thing. Its now three weeks since I’ve seen my boys, I have since been accused of drugging her and allowing my friends to rape her. I’ve spoken with social services who had confirmed the 3 yr old has not been raped nor was she bleeding but she does feel sore down below. We’re all in agreement that most 3 year olds play with their bits but it has to be investigated. On tuesday the 12/6 June she drove past my parents cafe beeping her horn and driving erratically, my Mum logged the incident, an hour later she went into the salon where my younger brothers girlfriend works she was ranting again all be it quietly. She was shaking and looked very distressed, I called social services as no one could see the kids in the car only her menacing older brother. they told us to call 999 and go and sit near the house so we could observe the situation while waiting for the police. My Mum did this as I was working 25 miles away. While my Mum waited for the police she was subjected to her sister screaming in her face, the brother picked a brick up and shouted abuse. My Mum was very shaken but waited for the police, my Dad got their as the police did. My parents agreed to leave the area once they knew her Mum was there. Without sounding condescending she is not allowed to be unsupervised with the children until this matter is concluded. Alas both her parents both work full time and they’re relying on the two sisters and brother. One of the sisters has confirmed bipolar the other one also has mental health issues, this time last year the brother who is 38 was having similar paranoid incidents due to his crack cocaine use. I’m sorry not one of her siblings are responsible enough to take charge.
We had a meeting on Wednesday to discuss me seeing the boys, we drew up a plan and access was meant to start today on her terms. i had to go to the family home she would take the girls out, my family were not to have contact, I agreed to all this but she cancelled last night and said she would see me in court.
I am more than happy to go to court, what i need to know is how quickly can i get it into court do i have to go to mediation as she quite clearly won’t agree. I’m worried about all 4 children although I accept i have no say regarding the girls. I do not think she is in a good enough state of mind to deal with all of this. During our meeting with the social worker she accused me of interfering with my son and accused the police officer in charge of being unfit to deal with the matter as he was unsafe around children. I’m not sure how to take social services and I’m loath to really trust them. I don’t want to cricify her in court and I can forget the false allegations if i can see my boys. Not so sure my friend wont ask for her to be charged. I’m also concerned about the boys not seeing my family until 5 weeks ago the oldest boy spent 1/2 a week with my parents, when we lived above the cafe my Mum used to have the older boy on the bench while she worked because his mother can only manage one child at a time.
Can someone advise me how I get this into court asap, what i would like is shared custody. I don’t want to split the 4 children up but i do want to know what kind of medical help their mum is getting. I just want the kids to have a happy healthy Mum who allows me good contact. I have offered to set up a direct debit for maintenance but she said I have to pay via CSA. Not sure which way to turn. Sorry for the long long message believe me this just scratches the surface
Forgot to say until the 25/5 I always had a good relationship with my partners parents. I've tried to contact them regarding my children, belongings etc, they have not once replied. My parents have also tried to contact them to no avail.
Hi there
This is quite a mess isn’t it... you must be extremely worried for the children’s well being.
With the mothers quite severe and undiagnosed mental health issues, it’s going to be an uphill struggle and because of the recent allegations, false though they may be, the court process will be difficult. Are you intending to instruct a solicitor? If not it might be a good idea to get some legal advice, some solicitors offer a free initial consultation and your local CAB may also be able to offer legal advice.
I understand that you are unsure about Social Services, have you had a proper meeting with them and is there a care plan in place for the children? I think it’s important that you show willing to work with them, as they are likely to be involved in any court case you bring and would probably be tasked with making in-depth welfare reports.
Your ex is likely to get legal aid to fund a solicitor, because of the allegations that have been made.
Generally, mediation should be attempted before a court application can be made, but in your situation, with the allegations that have been made, it wouldn’t be appropriate and as you would be making an urgent application, mediation is no longer a requirement.
To make an urgent application for a Child Arrangements Order, you would need to submit form C100 and also form C1a to tell the court about the risks to your children. It would cost £215 to apply, but that is the only charge. If you decided to go with a solicitor, the cost would be substantially higher and you would be looking at a figure in the thousands.
If you are on benefits or a low income, you may be entitled to a part or full exemption from the court fee, to apply for that you would need form EX160.
All the best
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I have had one meeting on my own with the social worker in charge of the case.
So am I within in my rights to ask social service's what is in place regarding the welfare of my children and their Mother?
I realise this is going to cost me ££££ but as it stands at the moment I have nothing else to pay for apart from maintenance so I'm well prepared for the road ahead.
I have started on form C100 , I will download C1a and get going on that one. I am going to try and comlete the forms without legal advice. Think I'm best saving as much money as I can for court etc.
Yes as long as you have parental responsibility you can ask for information about your children. You can also request access to the records they hold about you and your children, here’s a link to more info about this
http://www.frg.org.uk/images/Advice_Sheets/26-access-to-information-held-by-cs.pdf
I agree with Mojo that you should make an urgent application.
I understand you want to save money for further down the road, but given the situation is such a big mess and you need to make an urgent application, I would strongly suggest that you get help with the forms and a position statement to accompany the application at the very least. Perhaps get a solicitor to give you initial advice and do the forms and PS, but attend the hearing alone.
Yes you can ask CS for information regarding how they plan to deal with the situation. I would inform them that you are intending to make an urgent application.
Thank you, the advice you've given is most helpful, I will let you know how I get on .
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