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Legal matters

welfare of unborn baby- can any solicitor/law MNers advise?

89 replies

honey86 · 28/06/2013 18:59

its a long story but heres my situation...

im a mum of 3 kids, whos father died 4 years ago... he was a decent bloke and even when our relationship was on the rocks, access to the kids was easy and positive. they are all happy and settled with me at home, well provided for.
___

last year i started a relationship with my now ex. (hes divorced with his ex wife who wont allow access over verbal abuse)
it started great but over 6 months his behaviour got really erratic. he dumped me twice (excuse: he saw his dd in town, felt low and hid in his flat for a week on both occasions).
both times we got back together once he 'pulled himself together'. its been rocky since as i got sick of picking up the pieces for his mental health problems. but it was bearable and i stuck with him in the hope that hell change. i fell preg. since i got preg, he changed for the worse, he got controlling, started the mental abuse n mind games, telling me im not looking after the kids right etc. everytime i mentioned ending it, he threatened me with court, saying hell get custody of the baby.

about 6 weeks ago, we had a row cos i didnt ring him before i went to sleep. he turned up at my house wanting to row further. i told him no as im not rowing in front of my 4yo daughter ( who was in the car waiting to go to her aunts). i said no and turned on my engine to leave. he said 'so your driving away from me now then' i said 'well yeah i am actually'.
to which he said 'ok, see u in court and look forward to having social services on your back'
at that point i snapped and finally said its over, as im not having my bereaved kids used as weapons amongst other things.

since then, he :

  • put in malicious allegations to social services about me and my family, after i refused to get back with him (i kept the texts in which he admits he was wrong for that n that he did it cos i drove away). social services accepted it was malicious and took no further action.


-spread hate about me and my family to others and online, and has been warned to stop harrassing me by my solicitor. police were called on 2 occasions.

-threatened to have my baby taken from me at birth, and bragged that when he goes to court to get pr, he can refuse to give me the child back after contact as long as he can provide for him, and theres nothing i can do to stop him.

-has said he planned to run abroad with his dd when he gets contact (he hasnt seen her for 2yrs).

-hasnt bothered to sort his issues out, just continued to slag me off. hes still trying to wind me up saying baby will support x team when he gets custody, his mate posting that hes going to help him get custody.

-his demands are unreasonable. no other males are to have contact with, or ever discipline his child, including family and even if they are naughty in their care. the child must go to a different school in a different area to my 3. he wants overnights with the baby from birth. the list goes on.

-i have worries about the babys welfare. hes not emotionally stable at once and cant think straight when hes upset. hes in alot of debt but spanks his wages up the wall then relies on others to bail him out. his personal hygiene has become poor and he smells awful. i strongly feel that he would not hand the child back after contact or even run off with him. i think his anger, possessiveness and depression will cause so many problems and worry itll ruin my baby emotionally.

hes already tried to have my kids lives disrupted by child protection for revenge already and its not fair on any of them to be brought up around that. i just want my baby to have a good start with no bullshit a positive atmosphere. i dont intend to put him on the bc or be around cos i just think theres too much risk to my kids (all 4), in the way of welfare, mentally and by the threat of abduction.

ive been told by alot of ppl (mostly dads and pro-dads rights people) that he can 'easily' get pr and i should prepare for him to get contact too. so i feel im being trapped into handing my baby to him.
i honestly think he will fully abuse his 'rights' and use his pr to control me.

my main question is: if hes serious and applied to court for pr and contact:

  • will i be given the chance to contest it, or will my reasons at least be taken into account before handing him pr?


  • what will happen once he submits his court order forms?


-will cafcass definately get involved?

-if he still gets unsupervised contact, is there anything i can do to prevent him abducting, refusing to hand him back after contact or trying parental alienation? to protect myself and my baby from his games?

  • if he applies for a residence order, how likely is it that he'll be granted it?


sorry for such a long post, but im so distracted by this and its stressing me out. i feel like i just cant relax and enjoy my pregnancy for the worry of what hell do, what he has up his sleeve when i give birth.Sad im 22 weeks, social services, homestart, police and the midwives/hv are aware of it.
i need someone who knows the real facts and deals with it, to advise and not anyone whos just going to force more fathers rights biased stuff down my throat.

thanks x
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Chunderella · 24/07/2013 16:46

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honey86 · 24/07/2013 17:12

i do think hes capable of it (having bragged out his plans). he even told me the area of spain he was planning of going to with his first dd.
i also believe he wouldnt hand my child back after contact( he smugly told me of his right to do that, and said hed definately do it if his contact was stopped for any reason). i honestly dont trust him as far as i can throw him, hes coming across as in that state of mind wherehes hellbent on revenge. he doesnt think straight at all when thinks are difficult and acts on impulse.

im on is at the mo and dla (my sons disabled) x

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honey86 · 24/07/2013 17:15

hes also insisted he keeps babys documents (birth cert etc) at his even though baby will live with me. he kicked up a stink because he wanted to apply for the babys passport and keep it at his and i refused (for obvs reasons)

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Chunderella · 24/07/2013 17:24

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SolidGoldBrass · 24/07/2013 17:53

Never mind what he insists. He is not in control here. Honestly, you can cut him off completely at present. He has no right to speak to you or interact with you in any way and he certainly has no right to any documentation at present. Use the law and the professional support that is available to cut this man right out of your life. You will have total freedom from him until the baby is born and even then it will take some time before he can force any kind of contact: he might have found another woman to abuse by then, or he might be in prison, or have dropped dead.

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honey86 · 24/07/2013 17:56

his dd is by his ex-wife.. hes on her birth certificate but his ex has withheld contact for about 2 years so far so luckily he hasnt had the chance to be alone with her.

im 25weeks preg with our ds (his 2nd baby, my 4th) so hes not on the birth certificate (obvs) and i dont intend to put him on it. but hes saying hes taking it to court to get pr and unsupervised contact... this has me worried cos of his threats... ppl have told me he'll easily get it and i cant prevent it... but i need that protection to prevent abduction etc.

a friend has already messaged his ex to make her aware of his threats as we're not sure if she knew that... no-ones heard back from her yet x

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honey86 · 24/07/2013 18:05

well i havent seen him since 16 weeks but hes been plastering around social networking sites about his intentions ive seen screenshots. hes so hellbent on getting his way i know he wont let this lie im sure when ds is born he'll be causing more trouble. hes already made it clear hes willing to use my kids and hurt them if it means he 'wins'

he claims im 'unstable' which is funny cos my social worker is going to get info on my mental health. my gp happily told me the other day hes pleased with my progress and thinks my mental health is very much controlled and stable Grin as does homestart and my autism psychologist x

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Chunderella · 24/07/2013 18:42

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honey86 · 24/07/2013 20:40

ive got a solicitor who sent him a letter warning him of injunction... thats whats kept him quiet so far i think, cos he knows that an injunction will go against him... hes an arse yes but he's also (or acts should i say) clever... hes clearly done his homework on the family law subject so he'll definately try to avoid the injunction. most likely he'd use that in court against me to say its proof im 'maliciously' cutting him out his babys life. Hmm
my solicitor did suggest a residency order but said i wouldnt get la for it... little confused about that.
would i need to apply for an order right after birth or should i wait n see if he files anything? cos applying for one first wouldnt i effectively be paying for him to try n get residence?Confused

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TheDoctrineOfAllan · 24/07/2013 21:00

Honey, please listen to SGB and Chub. The baby isn't here yet so his actions are against you not the baby.

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Chunderella · 25/07/2013 21:31

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honey86 · 13/08/2013 14:31

sw did her welfare check but said cos ex is the biological dad of this baby she has to talk to him.. i dont understand what this could possibly achieve other than give him to chance to spew more lies and stir things up Sad ive been told by my my family worker that therell be a meeting in the next week, with just professions, that its just to get everyone together to share whatever info they have. she said she has no concerns with me or the kids. but why a meeting? feels like hes being given a place in mine n my kids life to sink his claws into- that bit of control over me he wants Sad i just wana be free from his troublemaking Sad

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LackingEnergy · 13/08/2013 20:40

Completely unhelpful but I'd have lied about your babies parentage before involving anyone. Something along the lines of 'oh silly me, I checked the dates and baby looks to be so you're not the dad. Don't worry I don't expect you to play dad to a child that's not yours and I'll understand if you don't want to keep in touch'. If that didn't work I would have seriously considered a termination if it meant keeping him out of mine and my dcs lives.

Not what you want to hear and as I said completely unhelpful. I'd move (and change our names), it might be stressful and unsettling for your dc but will your ex constantly turning up and causing trouble not cause more stress to them in the long run :(

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honey86 · 13/08/2013 21:56

as much as id love to, id get really flamed by childrens services (my sons disabled and therefore classed as a child in need, and gets intense support from them to keep him developing. even minor routine changes make him regress). they gave me a right grilling when i considered moving away few years ago.

n hes already accused me of that lol we briefly split at 9 weeks preg and he accused me then of the baby not being his. and ive still got the text with it on x

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