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Good afternoon ..I had my final hearing in December following a section 7 report from caffcass. Having had constant access to my son since birth me and my ex partner have had numerous disagreements over the years resulting in her stopping my contact with him. Following 2 years of family mediation numerous gaps in me being allowed to see him because she said so. I thought enough was enough and made a court application against her. How ever I have been representing myself and my ex had hired a solicitor, and has decided to use this as an opportunity to get me the worst possible deal she could think or in terms of contact with my son. She has come to court accusing me of being domestically abusive yet there is zero evidence regarding this. She did however have a few voice recordings and txt messages of phone calls where she had previously stopped my access and I have used bad language towards her in sheer frustration of not being able to see my son. I have never been arrested for acting abusively toward her nor had she ever reported such things to the police. We had been separated for nearly 7 years and some of these txt messages are 4 years old. Caffcass reccomend that because I deny the allegations she had made apart from obviously the txt messages , that the contact stay the same which is what my ex suggested not the court or caffcass which is 1 days supervised contact at my parents home. They would of sent me on a domestic abuse course but with me denying the allegations and the courts favouring my ex partners story they would not. So there is no alternative to getting an improved contact. Please help I fear I am out of my depths now and would really appreciate any advice given.
Has the court confirmed all of this in the arrangement order? I believe if that is what the court decide, you have to stick to it. You can contact the court and ask if you can appeal it, but this may not be approved.
It is worth checking if you can apply to the courts again for more contact, if you have not done anything wrong for a while, they may take this in to consideration. The issue when you dont have a solicitor, the courts tend to not listen to you, they seem to prefer talking to solicitors more.
I cant really make much sense of whats happened. It seems you may need to get a solicitor to act for you or get some advice. don't make sense only being allowed 1 hours supervised and that been ordered at a final hearing. if u didn't agree surely u would of had opportunity to cross examine and contest decision made
Hi . My ex made all sorts of rubbish up . Accused me of mentally abusing my kids etc and domestic abuse . Regardless I’d still had continued contact , weekends etc since birth .
My barrister said cafcass always say no to contact when this stuff is alleged . I argued in court , successfully , that there was no evidence to back up what she had said , apart from some crappy messages between us and that the kids had never come to any harm , that they’re upset when they leave my house after the weekend etc etc .
The magistrates agreed and disregard the cafcass person who was more interested in flirting with my barrister than listening to me .
Your ex will be told to make all sorts up BUT she has to prove things . And because you 2 might have argued etc and as it had only been behaviour between you and the ex I don’t think they’ll care . Your ex will prob say she’s scared for you to pick up the kids cos that’s what they do . So you just have to say you are very happy to do handovers in a public place , service station whatever .
hi mike,
how many hearings did you have? for me, i had 3 and the s7 report came out just in time for the 2nd hearing. thank God the cafcass woman was down to earth. i admitted to doing silly things in the past (years back), and she wrote in report that i am an honest person and she didn't give me any trouble. i had barrister for all 3 hearings so i think that did help quite a bit.
if order is done and dusted and cafcass case closed, you could appeal. or you could stick to order for 12 months (which sounds awful) to build up good track record, then apply to court again for more time with child.
Hi .. thanks for replying. The final hearing got adjourned as it was caffcass recommendation and I refused that recommendation. I have to go back to court in Feb to cross examine caffcass officer.
I cant really make much sense of whats happened. It seems you may need to get a solicitor to act for you or get some advice. don't make sense only being allowed 1 hours supervised and that been ordered at a final hearing. if u didn't agree surely u would of had opportunity to cross examine and contest decision made
Hi thanks for your reply ... I cannot afford 1 sadly....my echo has basically said I can have 1 days supervised access not 1 hours... caffcass have done there section 7 and said that because I still deny allegations that the court think I did (even though there is no evidence), they would not send me on a DV course which would of maybe gotten me a fairer deal in terms of contact with my boy...how ever the officer did not offer me the chance to go on a course ..she asked me about the allegations I had already answered in court and denied as there is no.evidence only my ex's words and some text messages and a recording then asked did I still deny them ... then asked how I felt about a DV course which I replied I had no feelings regarding one... although if that's what it takes to be able to have my son a normal basis again I.e 2 /3 nights a week like I have since birth then I would do whatever it took .... correct I have to go back to cross examine her next month . Regards mike
hi mike,
how many hearings did you have? for me, i had 3 and the s7 report came out just in time for the 2nd hearing. thank God the cafcass woman was down to earth. i admitted to doing silly things in the past (years back), and she wrote in report that i am an honest person and she didn't give me any trouble. i had barrister for all 3 hearings so i think that did help quite a bit.
if order is done and dusted and cafcass case closed, you could appeal. or you could stick to order for 12 months (which sounds awful) to build up good track record, then apply to court again for more time with child.
Hi thanks for reply ....I've had 3 so far ....I strongly refufused the recommendations from caffcas case adjourned till next month where I have to cross examine the officer...thanks and regards mike
Hi . My ex made all sorts of rubbish up . Accused me of mentally abusing my kids etc and domestic abuse . Regardless I’d still had continued contact , weekends etc since birth .
My barrister said cafcass always say no to contact when this stuff is alleged . I argued in court , successfully , that there was no evidence to back up what she had said , apart from some crappy messages between us and that the kids had never come to any harm , that they’re upset when they leave my house after the weekend etc etc .
The magistrates agreed and disregard the cafcass person who was more interested in flirting with my barrister than listening to me .
Your ex will be told to make all sorts up BUT she has to prove things . And because you 2 might have argued etc and as it had only been behaviour between you and the ex I don’t think they’ll care . Your ex will prob say she’s scared for you to pick up the kids cos that’s what they do . So you just have to say you are very happy to do handovers in a public place , service station whatever .
Hello thanks so much for taking time to reply...caffcass have set the recommendation as the same offer my ex has made which is 1 days supervised at my parents home .. the only proof of anything is txt messages and voice recordings of me kicking off .. no threats just name calling.. I have put up with this stopping contact game for 6 years now it's an emotional rollercoaster and admitted to the court I shouldn't of said the things I did but it was emotion and passion for wanting to be a dad....final hearing was adjourned because I bluntly refused these recommendations..now I have to cross examine the officer who thinks that this acceptable for an indefinite period.... I have no convictions or previous and my son adores me.. I really am at a loose end.
Regards mike
Hi Ferf. I've pm'd you....
If I was in your situation right now. I would be taking your s7 report and any relevant information and obtaining a hours advice from a solicitor. this may cost you a small fee . They can advise you wether they can get you better contact and they will cross examine your ex partner and cafcass officer .
It all depends on the history of your case and the past and how you have conducted yourself in family court so far. it seems now a recommendation that hasn't gone in your favour, it may need a solicitor/barrister to represent you for final hearing.
?
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