Last June my ex informed me, without discussion that she was moving my autistic son 90 miles away, taking him out of school and had found a house. I contacted a solicitor and was advised a PSO would likely be found in my favour but after going to court unless i was to quit my job they'd likely rule in her favour due to my shift pattern, then without a job they'd rule in her favour too.
upon moving she refused to do any of the travel or cover any of the costs, it was costing me up to £300 in fuel and toll charges and started to affect my work as i'd have to leave at 6am to get him home to then come back and do a full shift in work, which as I'm safety critical wasn't safe for me or him. I went to the CSA for a change in what i have to pay to cover the cost and they changed my payment by £11. I just couldn't afford to be going back and forth, so i started court proceedings. i was told i couldn't proceed without mediation first, so i initiated that last november and his mum, who doesn't work or leave the house often took 3 months to set up a meeting, she claimed all kinds of woes and they said mediation wasn't for us and authorised the court proceeding document, by this point i'd spoken to a few people and realised I can't afford to do court proceedings, I'm tied up in debt from when we were together.
the local authority has finally found my son a school, (yes, a year later - he needs a highly specialist school for his autism) and its half way between her and myself, well, as close to half way that it means i'd be happy to make the journey as thats where i asked to meet for visitation before she refused and he starts next monday so i now get to see him again. i haven't had him since December due to the financial constraints and her refusal to contribute. the uk law states that if a parent moves without agreement from the other parent that the majority of travel or travel costs should fall on the parent that moved. the csa doesn't apply that and the ex has now, after making it so hard to see him, reported me for not having him so she gets more money, they expect me to pay nearly £600 a month now.
i need help, how can i appeal to the CSA to actually provide a fair verdict? them removing £11 for the travel costs just doesn't help, i have a well paid job but my current partner was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in November so we are currently trying to adjust to the financial implications that brings as well as the heartbreak from not seeing my son for 6 months, as well as the god awful posts she makes with defamatory statements about me online.
are there any suppport forums i can go to or speak to like minded people? does anyone have any advice? Thanks for your time.