First hearing dispute resolution

[looondonn]

Hello all

Would be grateful for some help with this

I have posted previously re my child living in NI for over 12 months and the father taking me to court in England

Shall I ask for help from a NI solicitor or do CAFCASS help me now?

Sorry have no idea what to do next

No one?? 😢😢😢😢

As they will do home visits the ones nearest your home address...

I'm in NI the court case is in London
I just don't know how it works

When is/was the hearing?

First hearing was December I followed all the useful advice on here and did not go but sent all the necessary letters for this

Next hearing Feb

I am wondering do I go or try to attend via video link with solicitor

It might be worth posting on your old thread or linking it here.

I did and no one replied

Will get legal advice obviously
The solicitor I had been contacting is away now until Jan 2020

Did you not ask for it to be transferred to your Court?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/a3735191-help-please-guys-re-family-court?msg_id=92033464#92033464

Previous thread.
I'm sorry nobody replied when you posted.

Thanks so much

I asked for it to be dismissed as we live in NI

Now Cafcass involved

I just don't know if they will be gathering information or advising me as to what to do??

Sorry if I seem really dim I am just very frightened of facing this abusive scum bag

Cafcass don't give advice to parents about legal proceedings. Their role is to gather information and give advice to the court.

The court should tell him to issue in NI. However if you fail to attend the hearing you may not be heard. Some judges, when their lists are crammed full of cases, will try and take the easy option. That is why your cae has been kicked in to the long grass.

Make sure you have representation next time. You may be eligible for legal aid. Get a solicitor local to the court.

Yes of course I will be using a solicitor now
I am single parent with very little income at the moment

Just not sure if I can ask for video link from Ni or get an English solicitor to go in my behalf??

Thank you guys

The advice on the other thread was so so useful
As I got different advice from legal professionals which was massively confusing
At least I got clarity on here

Thank you

Can I also just say
One solicitor advised that a barrister would attend the first hearing - they charged 960 an hour inc vat

To anyone else going through this check out the advice some professionals Offer
I received a lot of misleading advice from solicitors
One charged me 420 pounds for a few phone calls and some emails :(

I know this is standard I guess but just be aware that the charges can stack up v quickly

The Court are supposed to address jurisdiction at an early stage. Have you had an order following that hearing yet? Is there a paragraph that addresses jurisdiction?

If you are OK to say which court it's in I might be able to give you legal aid solicitors there, I think you said he has convictions for violence?

Oh checked, not eligible. And London.

It might be cheaper to get direct access counsel, you need the court date.

Have you written to his solicitor pointing out that you are living in NI and therefore they are in the wrong court? The Court may order him to pay your costs....

Thank you so much

I am not legal aid
Family court Holborn

This is a FHDR
Cafcass have been instructed to do background checks and clarify where we live
He does not have a solicitor

Well that sounds fine. You just need to show CAFCASS your evidence that you and the child have been in NI for over a year, and the court should agree jurisdiction is over there.

I don't believe there is any way of transferring proceedings from England to NI as they are completely separate justice systems, so the court should then dismiss his application and leave him to start again in NI, if he wants.

Ok many thanks
I do not wish to attend

Can I send a solicitor on my behalf ?
Or video link from me In NI

Thank you so so very much 😇❤️❤️❤️❤️

Your attendance is required however, it is increasingly common for parties to attend by phone, by video link (but that costs, other than court to court) or by sending a solicitor/barrister and being available to give instruction by phone.

It is more problematic with a FHDRA because that is meant to entail the parties talking with CAFCASS to move things on, but in your case, the jurisdiction issue is paramount, as if the correct position is that your child has been living in NI for more than 12 months, jurisdiction is with the NI courts, not the English court.

In reality, getting things like video links set up is incredibly hard, because the court system is on its knees thanks to the Tories, so that's a problem.

Your best bet is probably to send an application on form C2 asking for permission to attend by telephone, and paying a court fee of £50 for a judge to consider on the papers. You should attach proof of where you live, and how long you have been there. If you can afford a lawyer, send one, and ask for permission to give instructions by phone.

Direct access barrister might be cheaper, btw. I like this lot

www.2drj.com/ but there are lots of other good sets if they can't help.

So useful

Many many thanks

Many thanks to all especially those who supported me and gave me the courage to leave the fcker

Best thing I ever did
I will get through this
Broke - if I have to take on extra work to pay for all of this then so be it

Thanks all 😘😘👍🏻😘