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Original poster

Mothers rights

17 replies

Caoimhe17 · 02/03/2022 08:20

My partner and I split up last week. We had relocated to be near his family which I struggled with so much. We have a 3 year old daughter. I had chosen to do further education at weekends which did take me away from my daughter

I'm a older mum and felt like this was an amazing opportunity I would never get again.
Long story short they will not allow me to see my daughter unsupervised or take her anywhere without one of them. She currently resides at his parents house with him.

What rights do I have as nothing legal as even put into place? His parents are so controlling and have already called a solicitor. I'm fighting 3 people not 1..

OP posts:
WouldIwasShookspeared · 02/03/2022 08:23

Parents have equal rights. You need to go to court and present your case. The judge will decide what they feel is in the child's best interests and once you have a court decision you have more power.
Do it asap because time is a factor here. The longer the child is with their father the more they can argue a change is not in the child's best interests.

WouldIwasShookspeared · 02/03/2022 08:24

Meant to say you could always try to see if the police will intervene and go with you to ask for your daughter. I suspect they'll say without a court order they can do nothing but you have nothing to lose by asking.

Easterbunnyiswindowshopping · 02/03/2022 08:59

Is he on her birth certificate?

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Original poster
Caoimhe17 · 02/03/2022 09:50

Yes 🙄, but we are not married

OP posts:
Original poster
Caoimhe17 · 02/03/2022 09:51

Thankyou

OP posts:
SummerInSun · 02/03/2022 22:08

Call Women's Aid or the Citizens Advice Bureau first thing in the morning. They absolutely do not have the right to take your daughter away from you absent some really compelling reason like abuse, drug addiction, etc. I agree with speaking to the police too

NowEvenBetter · 02/03/2022 23:39

Police.

Parents do not have ‘rights’, they have responsibilities, the child has rights, your ex boyfriends relatives have nothing to do with your access to your child. You’ll need to get contact court ordered, quickly, before the ex boyfriend is seen to be the primary carer.

BluebellsGreenbells · 02/03/2022 23:41

Where are you living? Have you moved out without her?

Liveandkicking · 02/03/2022 23:42

Unless there is some overriding reason the assumption is that parents have shared custody of their children. Go get your daughter. If the grandparents are ‘supervising’ you can legally just take her. They don’t have parental responsibility

GatoradeMeBitch · 02/03/2022 23:44

I'm not sure the police can help. She's with a parent. The days when a father could be considered a kidnapper if he didn't have the mother's consent to have his child are over. I have mixed feelings on the subject but it is what it is.

What you need to do is see a lawyer, and first step is to try to get them to agree to mediation. When you do this, they may try to stop you seeing her altogether, so make sure you document everything. And as someone said, get going ASAP. The longer this is the reality the more likely it is that a judge may think it should stay the reality. Consistency of care for the child is supposed to be the family court's main aim.

MunchyMonsters · 03/03/2022 00:01

Do you see her? Just walk off with her.

TellMeMoreHellebore · 03/03/2022 00:03

Who has the child benefit?

Is she in nursery/childcare setting?

Liveandkicking · 03/03/2022 00:08

@MunchyMonsters

Do you see her? Just walk off with her.
This. This. This. Once you have her, go to court and get whatever shared custody is agreed but don’t allow for one single second longer this bizarre notion that your DD grandparents can keep your daughter from you.
YouHaveYourFathersBreasts · 03/03/2022 06:28

Your child has a right to a relationship with you as long as you are not an immediate danger to her. You need legal advice from a solicitor, police can’t/won’t help unless your child is in immediate danger from their other parent.

AlternativePerspective · 03/03/2022 06:46

You need to see a solicitor and get an urgent court order. There’s a name for it but I can’t remember what it is.

In theory the grandparents can’t withhold your child from you, but if the child is residing in their house then it becomes more complicated because you don’t have the right to access their property simply to remove the child.

Equally if the father has been the main carer until now, and you saying that you were studying on weekends implies this might have been the case, as there is no court order in place he can essentially keep the child and there is very little you can do about it.

If the child is in a nursery/preschool setting then your best bet would be to go there and collect the child from there. As you’re her mother they will have to hand her over. The complication with that though is that you may have to keep her home with you until you have an appropriate court order in place.

Also you need to think of the child here. The father is likely causing her enough stress as it is by preventing her from going with you. Snatching her and then refusing to return her to what I presume has been her home until now is going to be equally stressful for her.

Which is why it’s far preferable to go down the legal route.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 03/03/2022 06:53

Do you have your own property that is suitable for a child to live in?

Original poster
Caoimhe17 · 21/03/2022 20:43

I've been asked by my ex partners solictor to send my c100 which I filed to court to them. Does anyone know if I need to do this??

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