Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
hi gents,
I am taking my ex to court next month for access to my daughter, i tried mediation but she refused until the she had the court papers, i have never had to deal with anything like this any help would be appreciated would just like to know what im getting myself into.
thanks mike.
Are you represented or being a Litigant in person? To be honest it is a really tough experience, expect the ex to throw all sort of accusations your way, and the way the court work is that you are guilty until proven innocent I'm afraid, but don't worry about that just don't get down harted.
Also this forum is great and people will always help you
Hi . If your case is straight forward you ll have no issues self representing . There are lots of videos on you tube about the process too . I paid £15 for an online book from advise now called how to apply to court for arrangements about your children without a lawyer . Was worth every penny . Will tell you a lot . You’ll be asked to arrange a phone interview with cafcass to discuss your situation and they’ll do back ground safe guarding checks on you and the ex. . I don’t think they’re overly concerned about arguments between the adults , more if it’s affecting the kids
As jmax said it’s a lot tough process , guess it depends how difficult your ex makes it . Don’t give them any excuses to make a complaint about you . If you think the ex will make it hard do things via email / text etc so you have a record of what’s said / agreed or not . That way there’s no abiguity .if you have the money you can get a direct access barrister for £500 and they’ll represent you at the hearing . That’s what I did , takes a lot of the pressure off
hi mike,
if your ex is of the reasonable type, then theres a chance your case could be over in 2 court hearings. mine went to 3 lol. only times i found it stressful was when ex's solicitor sent me stupid emails. good way to manage it, is to take breaks in between hearings. plan road trips etc.
Hi Mike
If you haven’t already, there’s lots of good info about the court process in the stickys at the top of the legal section.
It might be helpful to attend a Families Need Fathers meeting, where you’ll get face to face advice and support from others in a similar situation. The meetings are held nationally and hopefully there will be one near you. Here’s a link to their website where you’ll find details of all the meetings
www.fnf.org.uk/help-and-support-2/local-branch-meetings
All the best
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.