How would a family court see this?

[ufgh]

So, how would the family court decide this/what is the most likely outcome -

Dad is trying to take full custody (resident parent or however it's said now) of DS who is almost 3.
Mum is completely fighting against that and fighting for dad to have DS to stay twice a week only.

The reason dad has took mum to court for custody is because mum has moved on, got a new DP and ended up pregnant very soon, his argument is that she's clearly irresponsible for that, isn't prioritizing DS and he'll subsequently get pushed out and needs more stability than that.

DS has always lived with mum. For the first year, dad was only involved through supervised contact (through mums choice).
He doesn't pay maintenance anymore.
He doesn't have his own home and lives with parents (and a brother who has been convicted of drug charges) although dad plans to move out and get a house of his own.
He had one minor drug charge himself as a teen.
Claims that he has seen mum first-hand treat DS unfairly with excessive discipline (shouting/screaming) etc.
Comes across all well-spoken and just completely a degree.

Mum works, has ran a home by herself (at 18 with DS), and admits to accidentally getting pregnant soon after the relationship properly broke down but is happy about it and is confident about her good parenting and security in the home for DS.

How would this go? What other factors would they need to consider?

He cant provide a home or stability,, mum can. I take it there is no SS involvement?

@MyOpinionIsValid what if he was to actually get a house of his own? No SS involvement.

My guess is that they would take into consideration the stability of the environment and who the child has historically lived with.
Is the mum prepared to go on any parenting courses to show that she is willing to show she is a good mum?
Is the mum still with the dad of the baby she is pregnant with? Does he live with them? How does he interact with DS?

Court will not grant full custody to dad based on her "getting pregnant too soon in a relationship" or being "shouty". DS has always been with mum and it will stay that way.

I dont know but it sounds all very distressing and I wish you/them luck

Why is the dad not providing maintenance for his DS? From this info he isn’t showing that he would financially be able to support himself and DS as he isn’t even providing bare minimum of money for him

@TheTrollFairy unsure about the first one. Still with the dad to the unborn baby, doesn't yet live with them as she didn't want to move him in immediately but he met him after a couple of months (making sure it was kept occasional) and they interacted brilliantly from the start.

There is no safeguarding issues, no abuse, no neglect. The judge won’t remove a child from their primary carer in a Stable home. They might order 50/50 shared care or 40/60 30/70 etc.

@TheTrollFairy he's said that it's as he's been doing a degree so not working enough to provide maintenance (although is planning on taking up work full time with priority being moving out so he can provide a home for DS).

She does not need to go on any parenting courses! Good grief.

They will look at the fact that she has been his main carer and that there seems to be no reason to upset the status quo. The maintenance issue is a different matter and should be taken up separately. However, it can be mentioned in the context of how he intends to financially provide for a child he wants residence of when he has never done so in the past.

@Lovethetimeyouhave thank you!

They’re not going to uproot a child for that I can’t inagine. Mum was silly getting accodnelty pregnant so soon after but she’s not moved the new boyfriend in straight away so is being sensible there. Mum needs to contact the CMS for maintenance and good luck to her in court

You will not lose custody of your ds

She does not need to go on any parenting courses! Good grief

I don’t think so either but just wondering if she would be prepared to if it would help with retaining residency of her DS (I’m not sure how courts work so was just throwing it out there)

We can’t tell what a court would do. They will try to take the interests of the child into account as a priority. If the Dad has good arguments about why it would be in child’s interests, court will listen, but we cannot tell what they will decide.

The father might be awarded some custody but highly doubt main care would be taken from the mother..

Thanks everyone for the advice! I'm useless with anything to do with law & I'm prone to panic!!!

Dad doesn't support his child financially and doesn't have a stable home to give the child - mom does both of these things and has the child's sibling on the way. Pretty sure DC is staying with mom!

Judges can tell when a DF's trying it on, and this one is.

DF will not get very far.

So, would it become a possibility if he was to move out in the very near future into his own home or would the likelihood stay about the same?

It's the father who needs to go on a parenting course !

@ufgh outcome would stay the same. There's no grounds for moving the child out of a settled home.
At best he'd get 50/50 custody.
Does he have a job now if he's just finished studying?

He might be taken more seriously with his own home but it doesn't sound like it would be in your child's best interests to change the current set up.

Courts will never remove a very small child from their primary carer without it being in the interest of their emotional and physical
Wellbeing. He cannot provide a stable, safe home and not is the child in an unsafe environment with their primary carer. Also women get pregnant, it makes them neither irresponsible nor a bad parent. It will make no difference. Good luck to her. Good luck to any man who is trying to remove his child from a mother who clearly loves and cares for her child-for what seem like purely selfish reasons. Shame.

Thanks everyone!