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Hi there,
I'm in London. At the end of the month I have a first court hearing, for child's arrangement order.i can not afford a barrister so am going alone .
There's no issues about domestic violence or child abuse.
Has anyone here been through this and can they give me some advice please?
Hi and welcome on here. There are plenty of dads on here who have self-represented, so it certainly can be done with good end results. I would take a read of the sticky topics on self representing at the top of the legal eagle section, that's a good starting point.
Have you had a call from Cafcass yet? They usually speak to both parents on the phone and write a safeguarding letter to the court giving their recommendations on what should happen for the first hearing.
It's advisable to prepare a short position statement (no longer than 2 pages & keep it factual). Give the court a bit of background, state why you are making the application and what sort of order you are seeking in terms of frequency of contact.
You can take this with you on the day and give one copy to the judge, one to your ex and keep one for yourself.
Cafcass usually chat again to both parents separately at the hearing to see what agreements (if any) can be reached before going in front of the judge.
As actd says - look at the stickys and ask as much as you like on here. Best of luck
Here's some links to info about how to structure statements and also a template that you can use.
www.thecustodyminefield.com/flapp/positionstatements.html
Template ~
www.thecustodyminefield.com/flapp/statement.html
A good website with info in plain english, some court videos to watch too.
www.mfjc.co.uk
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