Anyone able to advise on this? Children withheld?

[Anyideas12]

I know a lady in Northern Ireland who is a working migrant on a visa. Her ex husband who is abusive has taken her children to a different part of the UK and now refuses to facilitate any contact whatsoever. He has been very abusive to her in the past but she was manipulated by him into retracting her statements to police. She is not entitled to any recourse to public funds and can't raise the money to pay for a solicitor to fight to get her children back. I don't want to give any more details incase outing for her but does anyone know of anyone/organisation/ legal provider who could help her?

I think contacting Women's Aid would be a good start https://www.womensaidni.org/about/contact-us/

Hope this helps.

She doesn’t need a solicitor - if she can get the money together to make an application to the family court (in England it’s about £260) she can represent herself.

Sorry cross posted there!

I think she's tried womens aid but been told they can't help as she's no recourse to public funds.

I'm not sure she has the knowledge to feel confident doing this, never mind the aspect of representing herself against her abuser could be difficult?

She'll need to make the application herself, it costs £263, but if she is on a low income, then she can check whether she meets the income levels for fee remission. This is available even to those with NRPF.

See here; www.gov.uk/get-help-with-court-fees

Once she has applied to court, she can check if her local family court have Support Through Court - they are volunteers who can offer a hand holding service to those in court. Some family courts have people stationed there, so she can check and ask for help there, or she can apply online; https://supportthroughcourt.org/

She can also ask for special measures in court - so she has a separate waiting area, and screens in court so she doesn't have to see her abuser.

She can apply online here for child arrangements; www.gov.uk/looking-after-children-divorce. She'll likely be able to skip mediation given he is abusive.

She should fill in form C1A with any allegations she wishes to raise, alongside the C100 application she will fill in at the above link.

Hague sisters web site may help