Am I losing my son? What can I do?

[Dreva79]

Long story...I left my husband 6 years ago and left my son (now 10) with him. Because at the time I believed it would be best for him to be left in the environment he knew, near his friends, near his school rather than turning his world upside down. It breaks my heart every day that he's not with me. I used to pick him up every Friday night and have him with me all weekend. But through time my ex has become gradually more and more controlling until now I collect my son on Saturday night. Ultimately what I'd like to to do is have custody of him but I'm so scared of ruining his life. If I try to reason with my ex he says "if you're going to be like that, you won't see him at all" so I'm scared to rock the boat. I feel so lost and I'm so scared of losing my son completely.

So sorry, didn't want to read and run, but the only advice I can offer is to speak to a family law professional or a mediation service. Good luck.

Sorry, don't know much about this but would suggest legally asking for more contact through a solicitor? Hopefully someone will be along who can give more definite advice.

You need to act on this now and not wait until it's too late. I'm not saying that switching custody is necessarily the best course of action for your son, but seeing plenty of you (more than currently) most certainly is.

Look up Parental Alienation on Google and make sure it doesn't happen to you. The Centre for Separated Families can offer some good advice.

Good luck.

Agree with the others - get legal advice from a family lawyer and get it now. I imagine the longer you wait the harder it will be to get custody. You shouldn't be scared of rocking the boat - you have parental rights which cannot be alienated. I am a lawyer but not a family lawyer but I do know that your husband cannot simply call the shots. You need to get advice though because a specialist in this field will know precisely what to do.

I also agree see a lawyer and get some advice your ex cannot simply threaten and dictate contact. Please don't allow it to just drift though your son needs to know how badly you want to be in his life. Don't worry about rocking the boat.