Family Court

[bellywobble]

How long does it take to be informed of a family court date for the first hearing in child contact cases? With the new law that came in in April can an applicant refuse mediation first and proceed straight to court?

At what age is a childs views taken into account in reality?

Hopefully someone will know!

Living in Scotland I'm not sure about how long it is currently taking to receive notice of the first hearing. Rather than mediation the requirement is that in most cases parents attend a Mediation Information & Assessment Meeting to find out whether mediation is suitable in their case.

Children's views are taken into account according to their age and maturity. Younger children don't understand the implications of a decision but even then the perceptions of preschool children can be a consideration. By the time a child reaches 12 their views carry considerable more weight. Forcing a teenager to live somewhere against their wishes may encourage unwanted behaviour. Nonetheless until a child reaches the age of 16 their views aren't determinative and there are cases where a change of living arrangements has been ordered against the wishes of a teenager.

The important thing when evaluating children's views is to consider the circumstances and family dynamics and to keep the child's best interests at heart. For example a thirteen year old might want to live with a permissive parent who let them stay out late on the streets drinking. Clearly the child would be better off with the other parent if they are more authoritative and set some ground rules and boundaries.

Thank you for that info. I did post a couple of days ago re my situation and its good to have an idea of what may happen.

I would hope that it would never get to the stage of ordering a change of residency. Unfortunately so much that I have read is not that reassuring in terms of children really being listened to.

The time for first hearing will vary from court to court. It was about 8 weeks in our case.

How old is the child? The thing is that it varies from CAFCASS officer to CAFCASS officer and from child to child. Something they often look for is the child having a rationale for their opinion. Also, reading people's experiences online can be pretty biased. In our case I'd say the children were listened to but the other party would say they weren't...

Nomoretether...The child is thirteen. Eight weeks is a bit longer than I expected. Do they let you know the court date quite quickly, and does it come from the court or the applicant?

There is so much conflicting info out there, mainly very negative re CAFCASS etc. It seems to be luck if anyone is appointed form CAFCASS nowadays!

Some have said don't even mention historical domestic violence as its almost impossible to prove and will simply be seen as stalling by the court, and they are only interested in current issues and how to move forward.

Most mothers in this situation say the courts are biased towards fathers and grant contact regardless, most fathers claim the opposite, so really confusing!

The court lets both parties know I believe. In our case the applicant also informed the respondent.

It seems to be luck if anyone is appointed from CAFCASS? My understanding is every case is appointed a CAFCASS officer and the CAFCASS officer decides what their level of involvement should be, initially at least. The court may order CAFCASS to do something if they specifically want it.

The court can only make decisions on things that can be proved so if it's historical DV and you can't prove it then you'd probably be wasting your time. They also aren't always interested if it was DV towards the other adult rather than towards the children/witnessed by the children.

Overall, unless the child is likely to come to harm then contact will likely be granted at some level. For some parents this can mean contact is granted when they feel their child is at risk because removing contact would be more damaging, for others it means they can spend over a year arguing against false allegations because the court can't just dismiss such allegations. The bottom line is, the court focuses on the children's best interests whether the parents agree with that or not.

There seem to be many cases online where a judge has dismissed a parents concerns and deemed that CAFCASS do not need to be involved. Whether this is the case I do not know.

I would hope that issues re DV would be listened to as they are relevant as my child witnessed several incidents which have obviously caused them much anxiety.

This is a huge issue for my child and they have very definite opinions on it all and very much want to be heard and be able to express themselves. I hope it can be resolved so that they feel secure.

Thankyou for your info.

You're welcome.

Re CAFCASS - my understanding is the appointment of an officer is automatic in the first instance. The judge (or CAFCASS themselves) may then end their involvement once the details of the case have been heard. CAFCASS can become involved again later if necessary.

The problem with conflicting information and many mothers and fathers claiming bias against them is by the law of averages 50% of them will have lost their case and it's only natural they will feel aggrieved.

Initially before the first hearing CAFCASS will carry out safeguarding checks so the police and social services are contacted for any information they may have. At the first hearing if no agreement can be reached the court will decide what further information,if any, is required to assist him/her make a decision and set a timetable for future hearings. CAFCASS only carry out a report when there are concerns about children's welfare.

When domestic abuse is raised as an issue the court considers the evidence and whether the risk of harm to the child is likely to be relevant to any decision of the court. If it is then a finding of fact hearing may be held before any decision is made. Independent evidence from professionals (school, social services, health workers etc) working with the family carries considerable weight. If the abuse is low level the harm children suffer from not maintaining or developing attachments with one of their natural parents is likely to be deemed to outweigh the harm a child suffers from abuse.

HOwever at thirteen your daughters wishes and feeling will carry considerable weight and CAFCASS may well do a wishes and feelings report. When children's resistance to contact is based on real past events which they can easily describe, and the resistance is a result of having observed or experienced repeated violence or outbursts of temper by one of their parents it's unlikely that any face to face contact would be recommended unless the perpetrator changed their behaviour.

Before the changes in April a hearing would be held about six weeks, or a bit longer if the court was busy, after the court received an application. The court notified the applicant of the appointment and the applicant served the papers on the respondent.

Thanks STIDW. Its obviously very difficult separating my emotions from fact when it involves ones children. The DV was historic and when my child was very young, but they seem to have some memories of it. Unfortunateley the rare and sporadic contact from their father has been towards myself and intent on causing upset rather than promoting positive contact, so a very difficult situation. Their father has been absent for over five years and has made no attempts at contacting their child through any means. I should imagine though that the courts would focus on how to move forward.

I had been advised not to respond to the latest upsetting incident as it was felt that it was intended to cause myself distress rather than a genuine desire for contact. I shall wait and see what happens and focus on keeping my child as settled as possible.

Your response has been very helpful.