Court action does not need to be expensive. You can take a McKenzie Friend if you are trying to keep costs down. For my final hearing re. the children I took a junior barrister and his fees were £800. It can be done.
marzipan I'm sorry but your tone is slightly irritating to me, who could well be the mother you are talking about. I'm sure my ex's side of the family also make themselves feel better by saying that I pursued my case because I wanted a larger slice of the assets. Far from being the case that I guess it's quite usual for a mother to think the children are hers, in my experience over the past three years of getting to know many many women going through a similar trauma, it is far more common for the women to be trying desperately to do what is in the child/ren's best interests.
50/50 is not the norm because the courts do not often deem it in the child's best interests. Children are not possessions like record collections to be 'split down the middle'. In my case the court awarded half the holidays, three nights every other weekend, and a midweek tea (progressing to an overnight as the children get older).
Never assume that what you're being told is the whole truth. My ex bleats on to anyone who'll listen about how he'd love to have 50/50, but the reality is that he voluntarily moved a long way away, it wouldn't have been fair on the children, the transport arrangements would have been a nightmare, and he was never a primary carer. It would never have worked, but telling everyone that's what he wants and that he's not allowed it makes him sound so doting, doesn't it?
OP sorry for the derail.