XP wants to take me to court. Advice needed!!

[baabaapinksheep]

Bit of background. XP and I split up nearly two years ago, and since then his contact with our DDs has been decreasing, his choice not mine. 6 months ago he moved to a different country, but he is back now but living 150 miles away from us. We have an agreement which was done through my silicitor, stating he will come and see the DC for two days every fortnight, obviously he has not been sticking to this recently.

He has quite a few mental health problems, and was sectioned in the summer, however he is no longer receiving treatment since moving back to this country.

Anyway, he want the DC to go and stay with him (at his mum's house) for a few days every couple of months, but his mum has a dog which has a history of biting and had to be muzzled. The house is tiny and DD2 is terrified of dogs, so I said the dog must not be at the house while the DC are there, which has been fine in the past when they have gone. He is now saying that the dog will be there, and if I don't agree then he will take me to court!

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? Will it get to court? And if so, is he likely to win?

TIA

you need to call police if any such incidents so they are recorded.

doesnt sound good environemnt if this is happening...

tell him that you want to see how visits at your place go for a while before they go overnight with him. maybe until teh new ear. review in new year -ahve him visit with you for some visits and see how they go, that would be reasonable. you need to be sure he is stable and if his mother is not a person you trust then not ideal as they so young...

Suggest a contact centre, ring up the national association of child contact centres and find the ones nearest you, then give him a list of ones that would be suitable for you both geographically.

I'd push for contact centres and if it went to court I'd ask for a CAFCASS assessment and also a doctors assessment on your ex's suitability to care for the children. ILT is right tho you will have to fight hard for your children, but I'd rather do that from the outset then try and repair any damage done to the children.

Get proof of the dog having bitten before as well.

Anything you want to be taken into consideration you have to state clearly from the beginning, the courts love to make the resident parent out to be a vindictive bitch (I've been thro the process am going thro it).

Be as calm and reasonable as possible in correspondance, keep all correspondance in writing so you can prove you have not prevented him from seeing the children under apprpriate conditions.

Thanks for all the advice, haven't heard from him about it for a while, so guessing he's changed his mind. If things do start going tits uop again at least I'll have a better idea of where I stand, and what I should do.