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Legal matters

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Mum taking me to court for grandparents visitation.

308 replies

mummytoalittleboy · 08/07/2025 01:10

-My mum is taking me to court for grandparents visitation over my 2 month old.
-My mum rang me a few nights ago screaming down the phone at me because me and my partner had decided to buy a puppy. She was saying I’m endangering my son’s life and that I have to get rid of the dog or she’s ringing social services and saying I’m neglecting my son. She then went on to ring my Nan and make up a list of ways she thinks I’m neglecting my son.
-For reference both me and my mum are qualified childcare practitioners and both have SEND training.
-Me and my partner recently moved into our own house a few weeks after our son was born and since we moved in she has tried dictating every little thing we’ve done in the house. We agreed we were doing carpet month by month as the rooms are rather large and each room would cost £950+ to carpet, she wasn’t happy with this as she wanted us to get every room done in one go knowing the move was unexpectedly quick and we didn’t have much money at the time of moving.
-She sees my son once for a few hours every week or two weeks when she decides she wants to come round. She has only ever had him twice for 3 hours each time so that I could unpack some boxes when we first moved in.
-She’s claiming I’m neglecting my son because she doesn’t agree with our decision to buy a dog, saying that I don’t clean his bottles because the one day she came round in the morning his bottles from the previous night were on the kitchen side waiting to be cleaned as he still had bottles made up. She’s claiming my house is dirty all because we haven’t put carpet down, for reference the previous tenants laminate is still down! She’s claiming I don’t clean my son as he had dirt on the bottom of his feet from when we had taken him in the garden a few hours prior to see if he liked the feeling of grass! She has now said she is taking me to court for visitation of him.
-For reference me and my mum have never had a good relationship. When I was younger she used to emotionally manipulate me, I would have my phone taken off of me for months at a time for not doing as she had asked within the minute she asked it right up until I turned 16 and moved into my nans house. My stepdad took me to my nans at midnight one night when I was 15 for my own safety where I stayed for over a week because my mum found out I was SH due to struggling with mental health. During that week my nan had to keep the door locked as my mum kept turning up drunk and screaming abuse at us through the letter box. The only reason I went back home was because she promised to seek help for her drinking and to go to therapy. She used to force feed me food that I didn’t like during my teenage years until I threw up and then would scream at me and throw things in my direction to scare me. My stepdad used to tear my room apart looking for things he could have a go at me over and then would refuse to let me leave the house until it was tidy, even to go to school. He once threw a plate at a wall just above my head to scare me.
-I have told my mum I do not want to see her or speak to her at all after accusing me of neglecting my son who is very obviously not neglected if you just look at the boy, the weight he’s put on is massive, he’s very advanced for two months holding his head up on his own, sitting up with little to no help, copying facial expressions. Because I have told her I want no contact at all and I would not allow her into my home to see my son and that I don’t trust her to have him on her own as she’s the sort of person that would refuse to give him back, she’s said she is taking me to court for visitation rights. I don’t want her anywhere near him.

Have I got a leg to stand on or will they grant her visitation?

OP posts:
CommissarySushi · 09/07/2025 07:37

Rosscameasdoody · 09/07/2025 06:55

No, you said most people would think it unwise so it’s pretty much the same thing. OP and her partner and baby were living with her grandparents when they were offered a council flat. What were they supposed to do - refuse it ? We’ve now got to the point where everything the OP has said has been picked apart and criticised.

No. You're wrong. I said getting a dog at the the same time as moving and having a newborn was unwise.

MelissaD10 · 24/07/2025 22:52

hello,
i’ve skimmed the post… most of the comments seem to be about your dog. so sorry if i’ve missed any important points.
I have an opinion on the whole dog thing but I’m pretty sure you’ve posted this in legal to get advice about the grandparents visitation so i’ll spare you my opinion on that.

Be careful, get some legal advice (normally you can get 1 hour complimentary). We went through this about 6 years ago, grandparents have to apply for permission from court and make an application but most solicitors would do this together so the application can be considered straight away should permission be granted.
most things online say grandparents don’t have rights don’t worry. but from my experience we had to prove why they shouldn’t have access and not the other way around. the judge even told us that the courts don’t like to close the door on a potential relationship. we had serious safeguarding concerns and thankfully court agreed with us but even then the court granted indirect contact of birthday gifts etc.
one of our children they hadn’t even met so had no previous relationship with.
my advice would be to be prepared. keep any evidence etc. that you may need and hope that it isn’t dragged through court. it cost us thousands in legal advice to fight it.

kiwiane · 27/12/2025 13:41

You are young - leaving a tiny baby with dirty feet for hours is not normal and getting a puppy at this stage is a safeguarding concern. I’d be concerned about a social services visit in case they do raise issues too.

mummytoalittleboy · 27/12/2025 21:09

kiwiane · 27/12/2025 13:41

You are young - leaving a tiny baby with dirty feet for hours is not normal and getting a puppy at this stage is a safeguarding concern. I’d be concerned about a social services visit in case they do raise issues too.

this was absolutely months ago that I had posted this thanks for the input tho! For 1, his feet were not dirty for hours thank you very much, we had been sat in the garden not long before she had came round, and 2, getting a dog is not a safeguarding concern at all🤣I am a qualified level 4 nursery practitioner and I have the highest level of safeguarding training needed for my job! Social services were phoned by my nutcase of a mother, however because we had seen both his doctor and his health visitor just days before she phoned social and neither of them had any concerns social let us know that a phone call had been made and that they were not going to be acting upon it. We have had no contact with that idiot of a woman since the beginning of July and we are living an incredibly happy life now she is no longer in it. But thank you for your concern lovely, this reply isn’t intended to sound rude or anything like that just wanted to clear a couple of bits up! Have a lovely new year❤️

OP posts:
Soulfulunfurling · 27/12/2025 21:13

mummytoalittleboy · 27/12/2025 21:09

this was absolutely months ago that I had posted this thanks for the input tho! For 1, his feet were not dirty for hours thank you very much, we had been sat in the garden not long before she had came round, and 2, getting a dog is not a safeguarding concern at all🤣I am a qualified level 4 nursery practitioner and I have the highest level of safeguarding training needed for my job! Social services were phoned by my nutcase of a mother, however because we had seen both his doctor and his health visitor just days before she phoned social and neither of them had any concerns social let us know that a phone call had been made and that they were not going to be acting upon it. We have had no contact with that idiot of a woman since the beginning of July and we are living an incredibly happy life now she is no longer in it. But thank you for your concern lovely, this reply isn’t intended to sound rude or anything like that just wanted to clear a couple of bits up! Have a lovely new year❤️

Good luck op. I hope you enjoy your peaceful life. Enjoy your little one and happy days 🌷

Mindymomo · 28/12/2025 09:37

Glad to read your update.

thepariscrimefiles · 29/12/2025 15:21

mummytoalittleboy · 27/12/2025 21:09

this was absolutely months ago that I had posted this thanks for the input tho! For 1, his feet were not dirty for hours thank you very much, we had been sat in the garden not long before she had came round, and 2, getting a dog is not a safeguarding concern at all🤣I am a qualified level 4 nursery practitioner and I have the highest level of safeguarding training needed for my job! Social services were phoned by my nutcase of a mother, however because we had seen both his doctor and his health visitor just days before she phoned social and neither of them had any concerns social let us know that a phone call had been made and that they were not going to be acting upon it. We have had no contact with that idiot of a woman since the beginning of July and we are living an incredibly happy life now she is no longer in it. But thank you for your concern lovely, this reply isn’t intended to sound rude or anything like that just wanted to clear a couple of bits up! Have a lovely new year❤️

Happy New Year! I'm glad that things are going well with your baby and that your mum has backed off from taking you to court.

Garroty · 09/01/2026 18:20

I'm actually astonished by the comments on this thread. Mumsnet is a mental place.

OP sounds like you're doing brilliantly with your son and giving him a great life. I actually laughed out loud at the 'getting a puppy is a safeguarding concern' comment. Nobody said that to me when I got a puppy when my baby was 3 months old and I had a list as long as my arm of house renovations that had to be done. They're only saying it to you because you're young, but you sound really switched on. I loved having the puppy at that time; because I was home on maternity leave I had loads of time to focus on her training, and it got me out of the house every day for walks. It was the perfect time!

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