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Hi all'
I have recently found out that I was a father and now I wish to find out how I can see my son.
Where do I start?
Hi there and welcome to the Forum 🙂
That must have been a shock, how old is your son? If he is still fairly young then the process will be a little easier.
Your first step would be to contact the mother to discuss the situation and hopefully work out a way to gradually introduce you to your child so that you can establish a bond.
If the mother refuses then your first step would be mediation, here's a link to the mediation service.
www.nfm.org.uk
If that fails or she refuses to attend mediation then your next step would be to initiate court proceedings. There is lots of information about the court process in the stickys at the top of the Legal Eagle section.
Hi
Thanks for the reply.
This relationship was along time ago, how do I find out where the mother is now?
The last I new was she lived in Hastings.
And I have been paying my child support.
Regards
Paul
Hi there
How long have you known and do you know if you are named on the Birth Certificate? If you are, this gives you Parental Responsibility.
If you are not able to find her yourself, you can apply straight to court and also complete a C4 which is a seek and find order. However, you may have to ask the courts permission to apply if you do not know if you have Parental Responsibility.
I think a father has to attend the register office personally to be added to the birth certificate, but I could be wrong.
You said in your initial post that you only found out recently, was that because you were approached by the CSA about maintenance that you found out that you had a child Paul?
You say that the relationship was a long time ago, once the child is 16 I don't think you will be able to use the courts to find their whereabouts, again I'm not 100% on that....I am sure that you wouldn't be able to apply for contact once the child is 16 though.
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