Court Order to force contact

[JenG1967]

My ex and I have been divorced for a year now. We have two children, 10 and 14. He only has them every other weekend and wont have them any more despite me asking him to have them more.

I decided to complete a C100 court order and request he have them more. Was this the right thing to do and will they step in?

Thank you for any assistance.

They can’t enforce it, but you’ll be obliged to have the children ready and waiting for him in the days he is meant to have them. Not worth the hassle as he can just ignore it. Every other weekend is pretty standard plus maybe one evening a week.

No court order can force a parent to have children more than they want to

Complete waste of time.

Why would you try to force a situation where your DC are stuck with someone who doesn’t want to be with them?

No they can’t force it unfortunately. I had an order in place and ex and OW upped and moved 700 miles away. He told the court he didn’t want to see our son anymore and that was that.

Oh I didn’t realise so it seems I’m confused as to how the court order works . I have a date that they will read it, or whatever they do so what will happen to my application then?

He turns up on the days he has them I just wanted him to have them more

why doesn’t he have them more? Why do you want him to have them more? What do the children want?

You don't make an application to try to get him to have them more! He, if he wants them more would apply if you can't work it out between yourselves.

He said hes happy with the time he spends with them but I’d like to have more time to myself.

So what will happen to my application then?

Have you been to mediation?
If not it's likely it will be rejected until you do.

Find a babysitter... Or ask yourself if you particularly like your dc...

It’s completely unenforceable. You’re on the way to Disappointmentville

Most important question is what do the children want?

You'd like more time to yourself ... that doesn't sound good OP is there something we are missing? A back story? do you have health issues etc that mean you need more help or rest periods?

Before you start down that route look at the optics from your kids point of view. Their mum and dad are going to court to see less of them. It will be difficult for them to be stuck in that conflict.

I am not saying that is why you are doing it btw just how it could look to your children.

I wanted to go to mediation but he refused

Christ these poor kids!

It's a waste of time. If I were you I would apply to rescind your c100 application. Entering the court process is dreadful even when you have a realistic outcome but your application is totally pointless. You still need to apply for it to be rescinded/discharged however.

No, there are no health issues or problems. If I’m honest I’d just like a bit more down time to do things. I’ve asked the children how they feel as they dont really have much to say about it and i understand my ex has asked them to as they have said they are happy with things as they stand.

Just feels as if he’s getting on with his life and I’m left to do everything else.

The replies are helpful. I really did misunderstand what the court order was about

Wow…. Poor kids. They’re happy with the status quo, as is your ex, and you asked if they’d mind if you saw less of them, your ex also asked if it was ok that he saw them so little.

Get a babysitter. That’s what most other people do. The older one is fine to be left alone anyway while you go out. They’re almost old enough to actually look after their sibling in fact so you don’t even need babysitters.

Why don't you have them taken into care if you don't want them? Surely you knew it was an 18+ year commitment when you had children

Where did I say I don’t want them? I’m simply trying to get my ex to have them a little bit more than every other weekend

What’s wrong with getting my ex to have them a bit more? This has nothing to do with me not wanting or liking my children?

Op I don’t know why people are responding as they are, it’s perfectly normal to want a break occasionally especially when you can see your ex is having fun with no responsibilities. My ex has had the dc for 5 nights this year and I would love more time to myself. But you can’t make someone parent more.

Where I agree with posters is that you shouldn’t discuss this with your dc as you don’t want them to feel unwanted.

Thank you for understanding. It would just be nice to have maybe an extra bit of time here and there. When I spoke to the children, I didn’t make a thing of it, i just simply asked if they were happy with the time spent with their father, I never asked them about the time spent with me.

I guess from reading all the responses here that the CO is a waste of time, my mistake, I was under the impression it allowed me to request my ex to see them more.