Hi everyone,
I am wondering if anyone can give me some advice or just an opinion as to whether the courts are likely to decide in my favour with my current situation.
My son is 7 and his mother has recently moved an hour away to be with new partner of 10 months. Albeit it’s not ideal, I haven’t put any resistance up to the move but I have refused for my son to be taken out of his current school.
For context, the school is currently 20 mins from where we live and 45 mins from his mother. We currently have a rough 50/50 split where I do the school run Thursday and Fridays and he goes back to his mother on a Saturday and the next week I have him Thursday through to Monday and take him to school.
We also relocated and bought our house near his school as this is where his mother chose to send him due to moving in with her previous boyfriend in this area. They then split and less than a year later, she has moved again and in with the new boyfriend.
If he moves school to where his mother lives, it would mean I would see him EOW as I wouldn’t be able to accommodate the school runs on Thursdays and Fridays due to work commitments and 4 hours a day travel isn’t feasible. This isn’t something I am willing to do and have made it very clear less time with him is not an option.
I have proposed we either keep him in his current school or discuss a school which is a middle ground for us, both of which she has refused.
The mother would only need to do the school run every other Monday morning, Monday afternoon (she doesn’t work Mondays), Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning as grandparents pick him up Tuesdays and Wednesdays. She also works by the school on a Wednesday so the journey is irrelevant.
I am now in the process of a prohibited steps order to prevent the school move, and officially requesting 50/50 custody to ensure stability and to keep the routine as close to it is as possible.
What is the likelihood of the courts agreeing with me on this? I’ll be devastated if it is approved and I lose time with him.