Divorce and school application

[Trek28]

I am going through a difficult divorce and need to make an application for our daughter’s school place, as she is due to start school in September 2024. The application needs to be made by the 16th January 2024. I am looking for advice from people who have been in this same situation.

Over the last 4 months I have tried to get a dialogue going over a school application, I have put forward a list of schools in our hometown on more than one occasion and given reasons why I would like our daughter to go to one of those schools. This list includes a school which we both agreed our daughter would attend before our relationship broke down.

Communication is very difficult; I never see my ex-wife and she will only communicate through her solicitor. She has not cooperated over schools and has only yesterday sent a solicitor’s letter giving her intentions.

Her letter says that she intends to go and live “longer term” with her mother and stepfather who live 20 miles away. They also live under a different local authority. My ex-wife has put forward a list of three schools all within 1.5 miles of this address. She is asking for my agreement on these schools and my agreement that she can put down her mother and stepfather’s address as the address for the school application.

I don’t understand how my ex-wife can do this and use her mother’s address for a school application. We currently have a court order in place that gives us 50:50 custody of our daughter and 50:50 use of the family home. We each spend 50% of the time with our daughter and have use of the family home while we are with her. My wife is today living in the family home, she pays her share of the mortgage, the bills and council tax and all her documents are registered at that address.

Does anyone know if this is possible?

What a horrible thing to write. On what basis do you believe in misjudgement of the court? Is he even talking about getting back together by force? 🤦🏼‍♀️

I can’t imagine why you are both getting a divorce. You seem so reasonable and flexible.

You must be willfully blind. The court had already granted an intermin non mol order. He has already used the law to force her to nest, a terrible arrangement for the child. He has said she can't afford to live there hence moving in with her mum which he has now stopped through a court.
What is she meant to do? He has trapped her where he wants her to live making it extremely difficult for her to move on.

I concur.
No doubt he will force her to agree with HIS first choice of school too.

And I don't have a crystal ball and do not judge people merely basing on the few words typed and gender

But the court also granted that they should apply from their original home. Is the court wrong? And we also hear that she agreed to see local schools to the original house. If such simple conclusion as you stated was right surely the court would allow her to apply from her mother's house address

I think you need to know that a non-molestation order is not granted without evidence.

Yep. This is so sad. Imagine being in court four times before a divorce was even on the cards. I hope this woman has support.

But the court decided this time in a way that they have to apply from the original house. Surely, the court would support her wish if there were any reasons.

The court were there to deal with a specific issue order only, not child arrangements, not non-molestation orders, not relocation/prohibited steps. In the time allotted the Magistrate simply would have dealt with the issue of which address to put for school applications. Nothing else would have been relevant.

Yes, I am flexible on my school choices. After the communication with my wife yesterday I have already agreed that my first choice school may not be the best choice for us. However, my third choice school my wife likes a lot because she knows children who go there. We still need to discuss further though.

I am not making her do anything, and I don't want her back.

We had a 2 hour hearing and the court was in agreement with my argument that:

1. We have a Child Arrangement Order that was formed by agreement (it was what we had asked for and was not imposed by the court), and under that agreement we are each entitled 50:50 care of our daughter.
2. Through her actions my wife was potentially putting my opportunity to care for our daughter in jeopardy, and risking making the Child Arrangements Order unworkable.
3. The magistrates read the school application policies of the local authorities and identified that our daughter's only registered address is our house, and therefore was the correct address for the application.

and that is what I said. why would they need to look at other irrelevant aspects of the drama? He hasn't been taken his parental rights away. (I know a case where a man where a man not only was molesting but nearly killed his wife, he went to prison for long years and was taken the parental rights. At that time the child was a baby. She is battling now the grandparents, his parents who wish to view the kid.)