Obtaining Residence Question, Please Help!

[Samsung999]

Hello All

To save you the very long and boring background of the situation I will try to be brief. My ex has residence of our 2 year old daughter (soon to be 3). She lives with her parents and brother and is 31 years old with a hx domestic violence (although I'm struggling to obtain the evidence to proove it). She works as a primary school teacher mon to fri and doesn't return home until gone 6.30 each evening, then has the weekends off.

I separated from my ex 8 months after the birth of our daughter as she couldn't control her temper and it started to effect our beautiful innocent daughter. I decided 2 happy homes would be better than 1 very unhappy home. A few months later I met somebody else whom I now live with and are engaged to be married. She has 2 children of her own (aged 13 and 15). Both my fiance and her children adore my daughter and over the past 2 years have formed an extremely strong bond.

Both my own and my partners working situation is flexible. We are both in well paid professions with the ability to work at the weekends and are off during the week. The schools in the area we live are much better than where my ex lives and, not meaning to sound stuck up, but our home and land is too.. enabling us to offer an amazing life to my daughter if she were to be with us.

With the applications date for school placements on the horizon we have decided to apply for residence and to have my daughter with us during the week (and half the holidays). currently I have her monday to wednesday each week and some weeks of the holidays (but not half)

My ex is incredibly difficult and will not even consider entering into talks about the future. She's incredibly angry and bitter about past event's (such as taking her to court previously) and simply won't be reasonable.

Can anybody offer any advice on what we can do to strenghen our case?.. or whether you think the circumstances will go in our favour? Both homes, despite ours being considerably larger, offer my daughter a stable and safe home.

I'd be grateful for any advice you can offer. Thank you in advance!

Courts work on the best interests of the child.
You do not appear to have considered the implications of the extremely negative emotional impact on the child (proven and taken very seriously by the court) of removing a child from its lifelong primary carer and resident parent.
The often devastating impact of removing a child from their resident parent / primary carer is why family courts do not do it lightly.

What do you mean when you say she had a history of domestic violence?

I would suggest you spend some of your well paid professional wages on getting legal advice from a well paid legal professional.

Or go buy another baby, since you appear to equate having wealth with being a better parent.

I like you @MrsBertBiddy

I actually hope that she stands up to you. All that’s missing from your post is the word “bitter”. If she was domestically violent why didn’t you go for residence in the first place????

Children will always need one thing more than any amount of money can buy and that is love. From (ideally) both parents. Your ego is bigger than your house and land combined by the sound of it.

@EatMyCheese

It's there already. I don't like that word either.

She's incredibly angry and bitter about past event's (such as taking her to court previously) and simply won't be reasonable.

Oh yes, so it is.
That will teach me to read and write at silly o’clock

I’m always piqued by the “bitter” word, but fortunately it ultimately tends to say rather more about the person using it.

simply won't be reasonable

About losing primary residence of her daughter? Hmm, wonder what that would be.

If your priority was really your daughter's welfare, you'd spend your time learning to co-parent with her mother, rather than taking this to court; you left when DD was eight months so there is no question that her mum is her primary carer.

What did the court sat about your allegations of domestic violence previously.

Probably your best angle is the amount of time you have now and the difference in schools (assuming it is significant)

Why didn’t you go for residency in the first place if your ex was abusive towards you? I have every sympathy for those who have suffered DV- I fled to refuge with my children and a couple of bags of our stuff to get them away from their violent dad.

Tbh history of DV or not, your ex is going to be hostile about you taking her to court about residency and whatever else. Plus, if you make claims about your wealth, big house and land you own as a reason why you’re the better parent I can see why that would get her back up too.