Advise on taking children from family home

[shellywelly123]

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

I am writing this on behalf of my brother who is in a very upsetting and confusing situation.

He has come home from work yesterday to a message from his girlfriend and a 100% totally empty home. The tenancy is just in her name so he has no legal rights to stay in the house

She has said that she has obviously left him due to the debts in the house which BTW there are all in her name. She has take there 3 children and gone to live in Cornwall - he lives in Chester so a substantial distance away.

Cornwall is also the place where his best mate is originally from and moved back to a few weeks ago but them being together at the moment is speculation but a strong possibility.

She has removed the 3 children from school and only told them of this this afternoon.

In the letter she has said she will not stop him from seeing the children but at the same time will not answer any messages, phone calls and will not tell anyone where she is. She has not told her mum where she is and by the looks of it non of her sisters either.

What my question is is what are his legal rights to access, has she up until now done anything illegal, basically where does he stand in a legal form.

Please help us, as I'm sure a lot of you can imagine this is a very distressing time for all family members especially my brother who is distraught.

[STIDW]

A solicitor can advise your brother where he stands and what the options are. There is nothing to prevent a parent moving children in England & Wales or changing schools. If the other parent objects it is open to them to apply to court for an order to prevent something from happening or to change something back to what it was before. A court can also order someone to disclose an address to the court for serving papers. A judge considers both sides of the story and makes a decision based on the best interests of the child.

[Helpforyou1]

Shellywelly

Has your brother have Parental Responsibility? If yes..
Can He keep the house the children were living? Or can he rent nearby?

How old are the children?

If He has PR, he and wants to ?try? to stop the move, He needs to apply for Prohibited Steps Order using a C100 form, obviously how succesfull is the application in court will depend on the circumstances presented to them and what the Court considers to be in the children?s best interests. (if they have all friends established in the area, school friends etc will help)

He needs to go to court in person and request an ex-parte hearing (whether is granted or not will depend on each judge)
He has to be clear what He wants (parenting plan) and how will be delivered.

[Helpforyou1]

Sorry I forgot..

No, she has not done anything Illegal.. and your brother has not access right.. just the right to apply to court to get access..

The police can?t do anything as this is a civil matter.

[STIDW]

Please see a solicitor. There are circumstances when it might be more appropriate to apply for interim residence or shared residence along or instead of a PSO.

[shellywelly123]

Thanks for all this everyone - loads of great advise which I will pass on to my brother (he also says thank you)

In response to the questions.

Helpforyou1 - If his name is on the birth certificate does this mean he has parental responsibility?
He cant keep the house as it was in her name and she has handed the keys back to the landlord but from today he has secured a property around the corner to where he lived before which he is moving into next week.

The children are 7 and twins aged 3 and in part time school.

They all have a great group of friends and go to groups after school - 1 has suspected autism / aspergers which is currently being tested and confirmed so his school understandably are extremely worried about the sudden change to his routine (he hates change)

All her family live here, mum, dad step parents, 4 sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews and on our side, grandparents, great grandparents, myself and my partner. We all see the kids on an either weekly or fortnightly basis so maybe this could be used.

Obviously due to 1 child with possible autism and also bowel issues their doctor knows all their medical history from birth and as before routine is so important for 1 child.

My brother is in full time employment and can financially support all 3 children but she hasn't worked for nearly 1 year and is currently on benefits.

It has now come about she has moved with my brothers (ex) best friend to Brighton - 260 miles from their home where no family members live - all his family live in Cornwall. It has also come about today that she has accessed his online banking through his laptop which they have stolen and changed his address - he gets paid tomorrow so we believe they were going to try and transfer his wages.

Once again Thank you to everyone for all the help - I will pass on all the information given and if anyone else can give any other advise - all is so helpful

[FlimFlamMerrilyOnHigh]

If they've stolen the laptop and you know they're in Brighton, then surely the police can get involved?

[Helpforyou1]

shellywelly123

Cool, He does have PR.. hes got an strong case (for what you have mentioned)

First of all, get all you mention regarding school comments, GP comments etc, as evidence (on paper)

See some info I used on my own successful case ,Judges normally sympathise with LIP (litigant in persons) as you don?t have to now the ?law? (not really law.. its purely proceedings)

1. if the children are to be imminently moved some distance from the other parent without prior warning, which will disrupt existing arrangements and involve a move from school and disruption to the child´s life which you believe will be harmful Complete Form C100, (also add an interim residence order) in this case, the judged will decide if the intering recidence order will suffice.
   
   Prohibited Steps Order fee is currently £200. Take a cheque, postal order or cash for that amount when you go to the court.
   
   
2. It will assist both you and the judge if you write a brief Position Statement. Try to keep the position statement to two to three pages, using brief paragraphs to set out why you are applying to the court, and what you wish the court to do. (get some notes from GP and the Schools?s concerns.. just concentrate in the childrens.. do not ?badmouth mum?
   
   
3. Before setting off for the court building, ensure you have with you:
   a. Three completed and signed copies of Form C100;
   b. The cash, cheque or postal order to pay the court fee;
   c. Three copies of your Position Statement.
   
   
4. Before leaving home, empty your pockets or bags of anything non essential (or embarrassing!). At the court building, you will go through a metal detector, have to empty your pockets, and are likely to have your bags searched.
   
   
5. Print one further copy of the front sheet of the Form C100, and have the court staff stamp this to confirm receipt of the documents.
   
   Demand an emergency hearing to heard on the same day as an application is made. It is also known as an ´abridged hearing´. explain the emotional harm the children will suffer (basically all you mentioned on your post)
   
   Then if you don?t know her whereabouts get a Seek and Find Order
   
   You would use Form C4. Within the C4 Form, you should list the names and contact details for any people who you believe may know of your child´s whereabouts. This might include your ex-partner´s family members, their employer, or even organisations such as GP surgeries, the Department for Work and Pensions, Social Services, The DVLA etc.
   
   
   ps; He should normally get a 1/2 hours free "legal" on Solicitors firms.. tell your brother to consult EVERY single firm in the area.... (PM me if you want to know the reason for...)

[Acekicker]

As a priority on the money side he needs to speak with his bank (call their 24 hour Fraud department) and get them to see if they can freeze his account and set a new one up for him. If he's able to login to his online banking he needs to change passwords (and should probably do this for all his online things email, Amazon etc) and then take it from there. He should also contact his work's payroll department and advise them of the situation in case there is anything they can do to claw the payment back (although it's probably to late for that they will have submitted the transfers yesterday).

[shellywelly123]

Thanks for all this - he has contacted the bank and stopped all access to his account.

We are helping him with all the forms needed.

Is there anything else we can do - feeling a bit useless ATM!

[shellywelly123]

Some good news at last

We have found where the mother and children are - not too far away thank god.

What steps can he now take to get contact with the children?