Ex has applied for residency of child HELP

[biscuit2403]

My ex and I have been separated for over a year, my little boy is two and I have always been the residency/default parent

As you may be able to see from my previous posts I suffered from ppd & suicidal thoughts I haven’t been on anti dep for a year now and have been discharged from my CPN a year next month

I have allowed my DS to have contact with his dad whenever his dad has asked, I have agreed to extra days, holidays - everything because he is just as much his as he is mine

There has been multiple times in which my ex hasn’t turned up for him, cancelled due to illness nights out and holidays etc, I also asked if he could take on an extra day as I was going back to the office to work and he was off and he said no

On the last handover my ex refused to hand our child back unless I gave him an “update” every single day and he could contact me whenever he wanted to, I refused this and he kept my child for two weeks, he was served and told to return our son within 48 hours, I supplied my lawyer with a GP letter to prove that mentally I am fine as this is all my ex has on me

I then applied for residency with contact one full day plus overnight until the following evening and one days contact, my ex works 4 on 4 off so it would be his first day off in to his second and his 4th day off. He has told me from the start he cannot see our son on his days off as he works too late

He has rejected this and applied for residency (lord knows why) however I know he will use the mental health card, and I want to make sure that I can fight this

I have kept a log book of everything since we split , also have screenshots of texts, call logs and recordings

Is there a chance he could get this? I don’t want him not to have contact, but I sure as hell don’t want DS to reside there

He lives at home with his dad and DS shares a room with him when he stays currently

Any advice?

The mental health card is unlikely to work in his favor. Make sure you have proof of each thing to contradict each of his accusations.
Then write a timeline of events. Show all your suggested solutions and his reasons for refusing. There should be no changes to the status quo without a significant reason.
Make it easy to understand.

He’s unlikely to be able to use your mental health against you, the courts have seen it all before.

Also the fact that he refused to give your child back because you wouldn’t cave to his demands wont look good.

You can never say never because unfortunately the family courts are sometimes a law unto themselves, so I would definitely gather all the evidence you have. But I’d say it’s highly unlikely.

And tbh, given his past treatment I’d be looking for him to have supervised access only if he can’t be trusted to not give your child back.

Sounds like you've done a great job logging everything and keeping evidence, great job! I think you'll be okay. You have done everything right it seems. He, on the other hand, has not. So this will formalise the plan so he can't keep pushing boundaries. Good luck! You can do this!