ex husband threatening me with a pso

[abbii1982]

Hi all. A bit of background info. I have 4 children, 3 of them with my ex husband and 1 with my fiancee. There is a contact order in place, stating my ex has the children for 6 hours a month, but this is due to be upped to 12 hours. The problem is, we are renting in a very expensive part of surrey and money is extremely tight. My fiancee has his own house in sommerset, the mortgage is cheaper then our rent, as is the council tax. There are good schools for the children and we believe they would have a much better life there. The children have been to the house and like the area. My ex husband has kicked off about it saying he will do everything in his power to stop us moving, by getting a prohibited steps order against me. I have tried to talk to him and am prepared to meet him halfway for his visits and bring them children to him when we come back to the area to see family (about 5/6 times a year). He never bothers with school events, I.e sports day, plays or parents evening, so would not miss out on these. What are his chances of getting this order? Thanks in advance x

I would normally think moving children a long distance from one parent is unfair but he sees them 6 hours a month?
Pah...not particularly interested, is he.

I think you have a very good chance of a Court taking your side and not allowing your ex to stop you moving. You have thought about housing, schools and the children are keen.

6 hrs a month. That's a joke. Even 12 hrs means there will be no change in his contact whether you move or not. I think you need to offer to do the whole journey once a month rather than half way. That way he had not one single valid argument against it.

This is why his sudden outburst has shocked me. It was me who got the court order as he would go months without seeing them, then just show up out of the blue. Me and my fiancee have spent months discussing what to do and it has not been an easy decision. Our rent is being put up in june and will then be 3x the mortgage of the house in Somerset. If we stay, there is a hogh chance of us falling behind in the rent and becoming homeless x

YOu could pre-empt your ex applying for a PSO by applying for a SPecific Issue Order for permission to relocate the children and change school. That way you are being reasonable and avoid the uncertainty. It's unlikely the courts would prevent a move in the UK if you are in a settled relationship; there are well thought out and concrete plans for accommodation, finances, schooling and contact; there is no evidence that the motivation for the move is to frustrate contact; or the move isn't to somewhere inaccessible.

Before a case is heard now though there is an expectation in most cases that the applicant sets up a Mediation Information & Assessment Meeting.

He will not be able to stop you moving. He sounds delightful. Happy packing :-)