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,
I have a court order in place whereby I get to see my son every other weekend. I pick him up Friday night and dropp him back sunday late afternoon.
My sons mother has been playing up lately and saying that my son isn't well enough to come to see me.
I don't believe this is true but I don't fancy wasting my time trying to prove this.
What I want to do is put a clause in my court order so that if my son misses a visit due to illness, the time will have to be made up at the earliest possible date.
Please could someone give me some advice on how to do this? do I need a solicitor to amend my court order? can I go straight to the court? would be both have to go back to court or could this be done without having to attend court again?
Thank you
Hi There,
.
You would apply back to court for an amendment, you wouldn't need a solicitor as it should be quite straight forward, I can't remember if you would need to try mediation first hopefully someone will confirm this for you when they come on line later.
.
GTTS
Hi there
Unfortunately you can't ask for the order to be amended without a return to court. You would need to apply for a specific issue order and this would require that you attend mediation first.
If there are other elements such as holiday times which aren't specified in the existing order, you could apply for a variation of your child arrangements order, rather than an order asking about one specific issue.
It might be worth writing to her formally and asking that when he misses contact through illness or other reasons, because of the regularity of these occcurences, you would like an agreement that will see alternative time offered to make up the missed contact. Point out that his time with you is valuable and should be something that he can rely on, having that security can only be of benefit to him.
State that if you can't agree between yourselves, you are suggesting mediation and if that fails to find a solution, an application to court to vary the existing order is inevitable... urge her to negotiate with you over this issue as courts like to see parents working together in the best interests of their children and further protracted court hearings will only put further strain on you both.
Best of luck
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.