Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

My friend needs advice re: her child and his dad.

5 replies

Tomatefarcie · 22/10/2010 12:44

My friend, let's call her A, has a boy with, let's call him B.

B cheated on her for months, then dumped 2 weeks after proposing to her Shock a few months ago. They have sort of agreed to split the care of their son. They each have him every other week end.

So far so good (although the split is far from amicable, as you can imagine, after all the arseholery he's put her through).

Anyway, they had verbally agreed to split the half term break in half. B would have the boy from today till Wednesday, and A would have him till next week.

Now B has changed his mind, said he had never agreed to that in the first place, that he's now taken a week off work, and that he will not bring the boy back on Wednesday as planned. He grinned and added that there was nothing she could do about it.

She doesn't even know if B is taking him away on holiday (not abroad as she has his passport I believe, but still).

Does she have any rights? What can she do? Is there any legal requirement that could force him to bring the boy back? I don't think there is any court order in place as to when they each have the boy. (poor thing Sad).

She is devastated.

OP posts:
junkcollector · 22/10/2010 13:07

I don't think unmarried fathers have any parental rights so I suppose technically she could call the police. Obviously this wouldn't do much for their amicable split.

Parental Rights

cestlavielife · 22/10/2010 13:14

i guess for next time she needs to know verbal arrangements are no good. you live and learn....

if he born after 2003 and dad is named on the birth cert he automatically has parental repsonsibility .

she needs to ask him if "he will not bring the boy back on Wednesday as planned" then when?

he seems ot be playing games...

clealry they ened to get a proper seprationa greemtn drawn up including who has the kids and whena dn ahve it signed by soliticor .

or get it all drawn up in mediation

NicknameTaken · 22/10/2010 16:47

She should talk to a solicitor. If necessary she can get a court order requiring him to return her son. I'd agree with cestlavie - in future they need a formal written agreement.

GypsyMoth · 22/10/2010 16:48

married or unmarried,makes no difference at all!!!

Tomatefarcie · 22/10/2010 18:29

She did go and see a solicitor, who explained about the shared parental responsibility. Their son was born in 2004.

It seems that legally she is powerless to prevent him from doing what he wants, so I guess she will have to go to court. In the meantime, he behaves like a twat and there is nothing she can do? Gah!

From an outsider's point of view, you would think it's her who had the affair, as B's attitude is despicable.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page