Help please guys re family court

[looondonn]

Sorry to post here I just want as much help as possible

Have other threads on here re leaving an abusive man with my 7 week old daughter after he tried to kill me

Now live with my family in N Ireland

He has gone to family court and filed for me to attend a sitting in London in a few weeks

My daughter and I live away from there as we had to flee the abuse

Police investigation is on going can some one please help me with this

My solicitor was under the impression if he wanted to do anything he would have to apply to the family court in N Ireland
I do not want this evil man having unsupervised acesss as he has hurt me many times in front of her and put us both in hospital

What may happen next guys
Please please help
Please

Thanks all

Met police carrying out investigation

He has told court that the met have concluded my allegations were false this is a lie as investigation is on going not sure when it will end

He started these proceeding Oct/ nov 2019

By my calculation, your dd is now 2yo or thereabouts and he's brought these proceedings now because he knew that he would stand little chance of being awarded joint custody of an infant.

That's not to say he stands a better chance now, but it's always best to know what motivates an abuser so that you can stay one step ahead of them.

Did not even consider that!!!
This time last year he had zero interest
Said he just wanted to walk away from us if he could not have her full time
This poor girl
What scum

Aw jeez. Not the Met! Asking when they'll conclude an investigation is like asking how long is a piece of string. Ironic

OK.

So, if a child is removed from one UK jurisdiction to another without the consent of the other parent, it's not the same as a proper overseas abduction. It's a half way house. If he applied to court within (IIRC) 12 months of the removal, he would be entitled to be heard in England, however, as you have been settled in NI for so long, you can challenge the jurisdiction of the English Family Court, and insist that the courts of NI have jurisdiction.

You need to tell the English court this. Ask to attend by video link from a NI court.

CAFCASS will carry out background checks and will establish before the hearing that the investigation is live.

Tell me about it
Some of the ways they have gone about it have been a bit odd but they have a tough job so just hope they can help as soon as they are able to
Lots of witnesses
Plenty of agencies involved
I just don't know how this will work itself out
My girl is happy and safe here
Living in a happy quiet home with no abuse
Loves her creche and the friends she has made

Again many thanks
Been searching on line and could not find this information anywhere

This is so useful
So we have lived her for long enough now that he can't make us move back?
Sounds utterly bonkers right??
He caused all this

What orders is he seeking? Is his case in the Family Court, or the High Court?

So is this a ‘child arrangement order’ C100 he has applied for ? If so mediation had to be arranged first - you do not have to attend b he has to attempt if before he can apply for a C100.

The forst hearing will be an FHDRA, a first hearing where directions will be made by the court. They may suggest some contact but you can push for supervised contact due to violence. They will instruct CAFCASS to carry out a section 7 report, may order a fact finding hearing, and arrange another date to come back.

If you do not feel your daughter is safe around him do not attend contact. It won’t look great that you haven’t, but you can stress your fear of him as a reason why.

If there is a history of domestic violence you can apply for legal aid, also apply for a non molestation order straight away. Your solicitor should be doing this. He may apply for a prohibited steps order, to try to stop you from taking your daughter away or abroad.

If you have to attend court where he has applied, further hearings will usually be where the child resides.

Apologies for typos, been a long day..

Yes
Family court
Couldn't attend mediation due to the d v
So this is now looking for a contact order

Fine. Complete the C7 acknowledgement of service saying you oppose. Return with a letter asking for special measures (video link) and explaining the court has no jurisdiction and should dismiss his application.

He cannot make you move back but he seems determined to make your life as uncomfortable as possible.

I would suggest you let your solicitor make all/any applications to the relevant family court in England with regard to jurisdiction as, with the greatest respect, I doubt that you will be able to put yourself across as well as she can.

You're dealing with very emotive issues and emotions can easily get the better of you when you need to be cool, calm, and extremely collected in order to get your point(s) across.

Getting the case moved to N. Ireland is merely round one. It's a round that you should easily win, but then the real battle will start and you will need to be on top of the your game.

Exactly!!!

Thanks again all
This has helped me so very much
Can not begin to describe the help I have got on here xx

Family court judges, magistrates etc pretty much always go along with what CAFCASS recommend, its them that you need to get your fears across to. You can explain everything to them, get them to see why you don’t want him near your daughter etc. They will then make their recommendations in their report as to what arrangements are made in the order. The magistrates don’t know you, your partner or your child and will probably have only met you that day so they will go along with CAFCASS recommendations. Really all the court do is make it a legal document.

Not if the court has no jurisdiction, which seems likely.

Take MrsBertBibby's advice and ask your solicitor to request that the case he's brought in the English courts be dismissed on the grounds cited - i.e the court has no jurisdiction.

It will then be game of wait and see if he makes an application to the family courts of N. Ireland, which comes down to a question I asked earlier in relation to his finances.

When it gets to court dig ur heels in agree to nothing only supervised contact in a contact centre honestly if the court sees you will agree to some things they will be more lienient on him

Hi OP and big hugs to you

I have helped a close friend through an awful domestic abuse situation where he was trying to gain access to their children.

You've had great advice here - I hope it goes well - my advice is to never lose hope no matter how daunting the legal system seems. My friend lost hope a fair few times - because the system seems so awful - but she won through in the end. It did take years (he was a persistent bastard) so be warned, but don't be daunted. She won - the courts believed her - he will never see the children again.

One more piece of advice - if, or when, this ever gets to a court hearing - have ALL the evidence there with you. So, hospital reports, police reports, documents of your actions - a diary of events if possible. You will need to be able to back up everything you want to claim in court - make sure you can as much as possible.

Good luck - you can do it

Yes yes !!!

So very true

Thank you clever people on here

Few hours ago I was trying to figure out how to fly into England to get there on time for this court hearing

Why should I have to when I do not live there and my daughter is resident in n I for almost two years since the c**t put us in hospital
Does not make sense
He is crazy to put in court paperwork that all I said to police is false when he has accepted guilt and admitted that he did try to kill me but stopped himself out of kindness for me !!

Dreadful time
I am resilient though
Thankfully

This has all helped so very much

Re his finances he has a good job yes
But has not get good legal advice so far
He has gone to fathers for justice
And got them to send some utterly ridiculous emails to me
The like of which I have never seen in all my life

Good luck op

Thank you
Will keep you all updated

So I will contact solicitor again today and ask for case to be dismissed on the grounds that my girl is domicile in NI due to severe and persistent DV from the age of birth to 7 weeks when we were hospitalised

Ask your solicitor to apply to the English court for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that it has no jurisdiction due to the child and her mother being resident in N. Ireland since - state date -.

Keep all emails and any other communication/correspondence he sends you.

Resist the temptation to catastrophize and, as I've said before, don't rush to imagine worst case scenarios. Everything can be worked out here by the collective hive of mumsnet.

I''ve had some limited experience of FFJ and imo they are a dangerous bunch of plonkers. As with all idiots, it's best not to over or under estimate them. Take it one step at a time and don't let any of this cloud the time you spend with your dd.