Anyone work in Family Law? Need to know about Emergency Residency Orders

[hidetheelephant]

Can the father of a child get an emergency residency order without the mother being present when she has left them in his care for a few weeks cos she was having a bad time due to going through a miscarriage? If so would they give temporary or permanent residence to him?

It's difficult to comment without knowing the details. Good contact for children relies on parents working together potentially for a good number of years and applying for a residence order can be very destructive.

Unless there is evidence a child isn't surviving satisfactorily or is at risk of harm it is an uphill struggle changing the status quo. The fact the child was left in the father's care when the mother was having a bad time indicates she was putting the child's interests first and a residence/interim residence application may well be viewed as opportunist.

So if the father had kept the children and wouldn't give them back could the mother get an emergency residency order without the father present because he has changed the currently working status quo?

Yes, very possibly but it depends on the circumstances - what the arrangements were before the child was left in the father's care, how long they had been in place, the wishes and feelings of the child etc.

BTW, I don't work in family law.