Court order

[EJJ2024]

Hi.
My niece and nephew have a court order in place for set days/holidays that they spend with their dad.
My niece is almost 13 and doesn’t want to see him (never really wanted to go over the years but my sister has encouraged her to- this has caused a lot of upset and tears over the years- her dad is very narcissistic and manipulative)
When my niece asks to not go to see him on his set days (perhaps because her friends are having a party/wants to be with her mum) she gets told by him that she does not have a say with what was agreed by the court and if she doesn’t go she is breaking the order!!!!

My sister unfortunately did not have the legal support to contest his application at the time 4 years ago.
How can she get the courts to amend the arrangement/get my nieces views and opinions heard? TIA

She can apply for a variation and ask for a Cafcass s.7 report where the wishes and feelings of the children would be taken into account. At 13 they are unlikely to force her to go but it needs to be dealt with properly to avoid an order breach. In truth though, at that age, I doubt very much the court would entertain a breach and this is most certainly not the child’s responsibility.

Don’t make her go
and when he makes these threats, simply suggest he take it to court
he wont OR he will but this will simply give your dd a platform to convey her view and not a chance any judge would regard this as a breach and the order would be varied

Thanks- how does she get a new/amended cafcass report?
Does she need to reapply to the courts? Sorry- this is all new to me and trying to support my sis through a difficult time. My nephew has also revealed that his dad grabs him by t-shirt regularly and he’s always being told off/ in trouble etx. He is feeling very intimidated!

Let him take you to court op
I bet he doesn’t
and if he does, will work in your daughter’s favour

If she applies to have the order varied, the court will order a Cafcass report to determine the children's wishes and feelings.