What happens if I don't abide by a contact order?

[SonShines]

I have a a residence order and a prohibited steps order in place. exP is going to get an amended contact order from the courts.

The contact that he wants is not feasible as far as we are concerned. DS doesn't want the additional. I've not the time/money/patience to get pulled along into another court battle so I am leaving him to it.

What happens if I don't abide by a contact order? For example, if the contact order says Saturday 9 - 6, but I don't drop DS off, what will happen? Legally I mean.

I appreciated your comments Mendi x
In my experience a lot of court orders aren't worth the paper they are written on. My ex has actively broken four (one of which had a penal notice attached to it) and nothing whatsoever has happened to him.

Some people on here will know my story (I don't have the energy to go into it atm) but I just despair at some of the 'justice' in the family courts especially where DV is involved.

The only way it will change is if the media get involved... luckily I am in the media and I will expose it....babyhammock you have suffered great injustice... but as with all the cases of all historic abuse that is just being dealt with.. so will all this.. x

sarahheatley
This woman has campaigned for revisions in the family court. Very few people have even heard of her :(

link not working

Arghh try this :) news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9756000/9756368.stm

The question was "If the contact order says Saturday 9 - 6, but I don't drop DS off, what will happen? Legally I mean."

I agree with Collaborate. When circumstances change rather than acting unilaterally and leaving yourself on the back foot you would normally be expected to apply to court to vary the order and show why the arrangement the court ordered or you agreed is no longer in the interests of the child.

Children's wishes are seen in light of their age, maturity, the background and family circumstances but there opinions aren't determinative. Loving parents might ask children how they feel about moving house and/or changing school but it is the parents who weigh up all the pros and cons and make the decision in the best interests of the family as a whole. Or a teenager may say they want to live with a permissive parent who lets them stay out drinking late at night when clearly it would be in the best interest of the "child" to live with a more authoritative parent who can establish sensible ground rules. Good parenting often involves coercion e.g. to change a nappy, to get children to bed or eat meals, not to run out on the road to persuade children to see the extended family or teenagers to make their beds, help with the chores or do their homework etc etc.

As others have said all contact orders made after December 2008 have a warning notice attached and the penalties for non compliance are community service or financial compensation. Also the courts may grant a shared residence order and increase contact to equalise the power between parents or in some circumstances order a change of residence. Not complying with a court order is contempt of court which ultimately carries the penalties of fines or committal to prison. When sanctions aren't used it may be because they aren't seen as being in the interests of children or because the behaviour of both parents leaves something to be desired but I don't think anyone can assume they won't be penalised for breaking the terms of an order.

STIDW - `As others have said all contact orders made after December 2008 have a warning notice attached and the penalties for non compliance are community service or financial compensation.'

Out of interested STIDW - have you ever known this to happen in the Family Court?

Received wisdom is that it almost never happens as the (usually resident) parent will automatically argue that by doing would be against the best interests of the child.

Just realised this is an old thread.

lostdad, yes I certainly know of cases where the courts have ordered financial compensation, costs and committal to prison. See my earlier post in this thread.

Whilst this is an old thread the results of some research released earlier this year may be of interest.

Roughly 1,400 contact cases per year return to court seeking enforcement. To give some context for that figure, around 38,000 children are involved in contact applications each year. In some 70% of cases contact had broken down completely. The remaining cases concerned lack of punctuality, some missed sessions or similar.

The most common type of enforcement case (55% of all cases) involves parents whose conflicts with each other are preventing them from making the contact order work reliably. The second largest group is cases with significant safety concerns followed by cases where older children wanted to reduce or stop contact. Cases where the parent with care is hostile to contact are, according to this research, the smallest group accounting for around 60 cases per year.

The research found that none of the cases where the child was refusing contact resulted in a punitive order. Punitive orders are used in around 5% of conflict cases and 8% of cases with safety concerns. However, where the parent with care is hostile to contact 78% of cases result in a punitive order with unpaid work being the most common penalty.

So it is certainly true that punitive orders are rare - around 120 per year according to this research. But nonetheless this research found that punitive measures are used in the vast majority of cases where the parent with care is obstructing contact.

Hello to you all, please can anyone help me as I feel so ill and am crying my way through each and every day, I have come out if a emotional controlling relationship and still trying to find myself, I have a 6 year old daughter with that partner I have parted from him, I have been with my 6 year old daughter since birth and have never left her side only for school, my x partner has been saying since birth he is going to take her to Canada, Germany all of these places and it has stuck in my head so I have never let her out of my sight and I have never let him take her anywhere without me, I think I stayed in the relationship through fear but now we have parted he has threatened to do me damage and take me to court for access , I know if he is granted access that is it she will be gone, maybe not out of the country I don't know but he will defenatly take her, I went to seek advice from the solicitors who basically said it was £215 for a court order, £90 for a hours advice and the rest I can't afford this at all, all I need is for my daughter to be safe but with no legal aid I have no chance, he has a lot of money so he can afford to take me to court with the best solicitors I am totally inconsolable every single day and just can't see tomorrow because the pain of what is coming I can't cope with. I have never been in a court in my life, and have no friends to talk to that won't gossip , I am totally broken xxxx

Has he got a passport? Has he got your child's passport? It sounds as though he is playing on your anxieties but you need to be strong. If he hasn't been abusive to your daughter he is likely to get unsupervised contact with your daughter.

I would visit your gp too they may suggest ways to combat your anxiety.

I have got her passport but he has links in Pakistan and remote places, plus He cousin took his 13 year old son out for the day and never returned him, his mother who works had so much stress trying to get him back , police courts etc in the end the dad had bought the kid so much his affection and attention he told his mom he didn't want to go home and the courts , police told her she should drop trying to get him back, I know my daughter is younger but only I know his twisted , sick ways, and that's what has made me so stiff with pain over this, I have been to the doctors and I have anxiety tablets, but they don't help when you know in your heart and head someone is going to take her, if I burst out crying it's not because I need more tablets, it's because I'm petrified, why do people think you need to see the doctor for fear ? xxx

It's more the way you write you've never left your daughter's side apart from school in six years.its a bit abnormal.
You Will need to go to court and convince them he's a flight risk with your daughter. What is he like with her?

Just phone the passport office and ask them to put a flag on her passport so if he tries to take her alarms will sound (metaphorically).

People are suggesting seeing your gp because while your concerns are clearly real, your abject terror of him is not healthy for you or your child and needs managing. The flight risk stuff can be managed legally.

What i mean is that i take her to activities after school and out on wekends etc, she is very sociable and very confident but i just put all
My time, effort , and attention into her, i dont go out or do anything without her, there's nothing strange about being a fantastic mum, he is good with her a bit possesive and just gives her everything , but hes just pushy, controlling and evil to me, its just hard with so much fear he has put into me, no one should have to live in fear .

I really feel like I have had to explain myself and be judged when all I really need is people 's advice about when the court letter lands on my doorstep what will the letter be? What is the first thing I have to do? I can't afford the high expense of solicitors? Thank- you for any advice.

You would be better to start your own thread rather than bump an old one

All the best.