[Solved] Filed a C79/C100 - now contact has stopped!

Hi there

I’m going through the same thing mate my court date is Monday for enforcement , Have cafcass phoned you as yet? Maybe they could shed some light on this, Best thing I would say to you at minute mate is just to stay calm and do not get in touch with your ex as she might phone the police up accusing you with harassment like my ex has done, She will be panicking and will make all sorts of silly accusations, just be prepared for it. does she have a solicitor?

Best Regards

Hi Gorby, thanks for responding.

Only communication is by text (no calls) and my messages are all carefully worded so really wouldn't be a chance of accusation of harassment on that front. Should I be expecting a call from CAFCASS? The S7 report from the final hearing was quite in my favour especially with regards to not reacting when contact was stopped whilst they did their safeguarding checks, and didn't outline any issues with either parent's ability to care.

I'd gone back to court as only about 20 of 100 hours of contact since the final order have taken place. I've read some people mentioning like 4 missed contacts over a couple of months, but genuinely feel mine is worse - we are now at 6 out of 19 possible sessions, which is an appalling track record if you ask me.

She does have representation (I opted to self-represent this time as I'd had representation up to the final hearing and this is fairly straightforward as far as missed contact - the dates sort of speak for themselves). There really isn't much of a leg for them to stand on as far as I can see.

Is there something that can be done to get emergency contact (re)instated at this stage before my next hearing?

Thanks in advance,
Concerned Daddy.

P.S. Good luck for Monday, fingers crossed it goes your way! Courts have got to start being firm with parents who aren't following the judge's orders from the get go.

Hi again

I tried getting an emergency enforcement but the court would not accept this as the children are not in any danger, On the court papers mine said you may receive a call from cafcass which i did this past tuesday i got the cafcass recomendation letter/email the day after basically saying there is no issue not to continue with the s7 report, You only have 2 week to go it will soon fly by

And thanks 🙂

Thanks for the response again Gorby,

It's beyond a joke - a child having consistent contact with both parents (save for genuine safeguarding concerns) is an emergency and the courts should make it as much as a priority as they do when the baseless claims come from the opposite direction and contact is stopped whilst 'investigations' take place.

Had a read through what I got from the court - no CAFCASS involvement mentioned in the directions as the final hearing was only a month or 2 ago.

I think I will reach out to the court regardless and update them on the state of affairs. There hasn't even been a reason given for stopping the contact, just that she won't discuss till the court date. That isn't a valid reason as far as I'm aware, and surely she'd have to state if there was a safety concern to stop contact?

Cheers,
Concerned Daddy.

Hi there

Unfortunately there's nothing you can do at the moment, if she has a solicitor you could write to them requesting that contact is reinstated immediately, perhaps offer to set up contact with a third party present, such as a family member or friend? Explaining that the less disruption caused to your child the better it is, as stopping and starting contact isn't in his/hers best interests.

As gorby has said, unless the child is at risk the court won't be able to do anything before the hearing, but it would be a good idea to prepare a brief position statement explaining the situation, which you can hand to the clerk on arrival at the court to pass to the judge, have a copy for the ex and one for CAFCASS too.

All the best

Thanks for chiming in Mojo,

I will do as you've suggested and reach out to her solicitor - ultimately no reason has been given to stop contact, and no response to my message so it would be the appropriate course of redress I think.

Have to submit position statement a few weeks before the first hearing date, so will get that in in due time.

It's abysmal conduct as a whole though - our final hearing was only 2 months ago, and it's been breach after breach since day one. I've made attempts to rearrange missed contact but with no joy at all. When we are talking in terms of 20-25% of contact taking place, is this normal? I can understand the odd sick day here and there, but this seems beyond excessive?

Also, I'd asked in my application that the CAFCASS officer who dealt with the original case be involved in these proceedings, but there is no mention of CAFCASS involvement in the directions. Does CAFCASS have to attend these hearings?

Thanks in advance,
Concerned Daddy.

...as has already been said, be very careful about trying to communicate with the ex. Regardless of how civil your texts may be, the very act of sending them can be enough for her to get an injunction...honestly. If it were me I would conduct all communication through her solicitor.

I'm pretty sure CAFCASS will be involved, but it has been known for them to come on board at the first hearing.

Before making the enforcement application, did you do as I suggested and write back to the court to try and get it back that way?

Hi

as Mojo has said, it's unlikely the court will be able to do anything before the hearing date. It's possible CAFCASS might be in touch before the hearing, it doesn't always happen for a first enforcement hearing though.

Your best bet is to try through the solicitors and focus on putting a strong statement together in the mean time.

Thanks all for input,

Mojo - I did pass your suggestion to my solicitor at the beginning of the month (and indeed write a letter to the magistrates from the original proceedings). I was advised not to send in a letter as it they felt it would have little/no impact - although in hindsight I do feel like nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I sent an organised letter to mother's solicitor outlining the concerns and received a response today saying that contact will be restarted this week, but with some fairly flaky response as to the ongoing issue of overnight contact. I'll need to write a response to that and focus on the statement in prep for the hearing but the facts are pretty straightforward and there isn't any contention from the other side re: the amount of contact that has taken place nor the breaches.

I really appreciate the advice coming from all members of the forum, it certainly does help to have some sound judgement in what could be a chaotic situation.

Thanks,
Concerned Daddy.

Wishing you all the best! Please let us know how you get on!