Custody advice please

[Mal25]

I'm looking for some advice please on custody of my husband's kids, as his ex wife is currently stopping us from seeing them.

They were spending every other weekend with us, with their dad picking them up from school on fri and dropping them on monday. The kids are 8 & 3 years old, and have both showed interest in living with the father. Their mother has retaliated by stopping us seeing them and by claiming that he is violent (which he has never been, whereas she was the violent one throughout their relationship).

We would prefer to have full custody given her violent past and irratic behaviour, or if not, shared custody.

Can anyone advise where this has been granted to the father please, as i've been looking into it and even in the worst cases, they still seem to side with the mothers.

A 3 year old really can't express a reasoned preference for who they live with and 8 years is still a bit young. You need to go to court to get the status quo back in track again ASAP.

Thank you for your response. When I say 'showed interest', I mean the the 8 year old in particular has been very clear about wanting to live with their dad, and just seeing their mum every other weekend instead. The 3 year old has said she would like this too, however it's something that the 8 year old brought up frequently and unprompted.

We are trying to decide what's right for the kids in their current environment with their mum, and if shared custody might be a better option.