Solicitor recommendations (in Greater Manch) and contact suggestions please

[iammovingsoon]

I am moving to Trafford next month and need a solicitor who takes Legal Help/Aid cases and has experience of dealing with issues involving abusive non-resident fathers.

I also need to think of a way of facilitating contact once I move. My daughter is 15 months old. I think one day a week (presumably at the weekend as he works) is appropriate. He'll be 175 miles away then, so it can't be more often, although he sees her three times a week now.

But I need to find someone to supervise, and a place for it to happen. I'm not happy having him in my home, I stopped him coming there when she was six months old. I do have family near there, but the nearest person is very busy/stressed and I wouldn't want to impose on them regularly. The other two are further out (in different cities) so could do it occasionally but not always.

A contact centre is not a good idea IMO because there is an expectation that supervised contact will become unsupervised just with the handover at the centre, and I don't think that he will magically become a non-abusive person just because he can behave in front of the staff for a few months. And I wouldn't be allowed in with her. So I'd rather keep it informal so I can have someone trustworthy there with us long-term (who he will behave when around). She still breastfeeds regularly (minimum every 2 hours during the day) and I've never left her before so I would have to be there for the foreseeable future.

Any ideas for what sort of person I could ask and where it could happen?

By 'what sort of person' I mean is there some kind of professional who would do something like that, e.g. Social Services, a charity etc? Or will I just have to make a very tolerant friend with lots of free time?!

Is it fair on your daughter to have contact reduced from 3 days per week to just one day. How would you feel if your contact with daughter was reduced from what it is now to 3 days per week. Do you believe this would impacton her. If so you need to understand importance of her contact with father too. Persumbly he has contact now so I don't understand why he will have to be supervised if you move.

That's not the question I'm asking.

And he has always been supervised, it isn't anything new for when we move.

The breastfeeding isn't an issue at 15 months- baby's dad will have to find other ways to comfort the baby. Is he abusive re the baby or you? Really can't see any court allowing the supervised contact to carry on indefinitely.

The breastfeeding is an issue for this particular baby, even if it wouldn't be for most at this age.

He has always been abusive towards me (including in front of her), and has shown worrying behaviour towards her too. My current solicitor agrees he shouldn't see her alone.

Neither of these posts have answered the question though. I need recommendations for a solicitor and suggestions for who to supervise/where to do contact time. Not judgements on if he needs supervising, or how often he should see her, or whether or not she should still be nursing on demand.

Just bear in mind, solicitors agree with their clients, A court may well not. Have a feeling that this is where it's going to end up from your postings.

That's why I haven't gone to court. I'm aware of too many abusive parents having unsupervised access to their children as a result of courts not taking their behaviour seriously.

I doubt he will go to court for a few years though, and by then she will be old enough to tell people how he acts towards her if they do order unsupervised contact.

I'm going to repost this somewhere else then, maybe Chat or Legal. Probably won't come back to check this thread so don't worry about replying here in future.