i stopped ex having contact... can i take him to court to get arrangements made legal?

[GinAndSonic]

My ex has threatened me with court to get contact. I would give my reasons for stopping contact but would happily abide by any court ordered contact given that i stoppped it due to him being unreliable and missing contact etc. However, i dont know that he will follow through with taking me to court.
A child arrangements order would be great, it would mean i officially have residency so could take holidays abroad, and as i say, id abide by court ordered contact.
Can i issue procedings for this? And also, if the court gave him contact and he messed around, missing contact, being late, etc, is there anything i could do to alter or stop contact? Its damaging for my kids to be let down time and again.

Unfortuantly you cant force a parent to have contact.
Im the same. I stopped it because it was as and when it suited him and the kids had no routine and it upset them immensly. He then started court action, which i was pleased about because finally we would have some structure. Hes now cancelled his application, fortunatly the hearing is still going ahead. Im hoping to have an order made in his absence so that a few yrs down the line he cant try all this again, it will already be set in stone.
Just hope he does do it.

Well i dont want to force contact, i just want to have it made official that they live with me and have any contact or lack thereof made official too. Hes the one claiming to want contact, im not bothered, my kids rarely mention him. But if the.court awards contact and he repeatedly doesnt show, can i return it to court and get the amount reduced or stopped?

GinandSonic - that would be a question to put to a lawyer, or maybe do some searching online.

People might be able to give their experiences here, but that's no match for hearing what a lawyer has to say about it.

Id be interested to find out the answer to this just in case the courts dont allow me have an order made in his abscence. If you find out, please do let us know.
Thanks

Thanks, yes, i have now called a solicitor and have an appointment on tuesday. Im feeling pretty anxious about it all really, i suppose thats why i posted really, to get it out a bit, rather than mulling over it and driving myself mad.

How did you get on Gin?

Try posting this on the MN legal site.