contact agreement

[firemansaminsanity]

DP was due to have mediation this week after months of preparation. After tip toeing around ex wife she cancelled on the day stating she couldnt afford it.

What are out next steps.
We will only qualify for legal aid for next few weeks and then we wont be able to afford much legal cost ourselves.

She has suggested solicitors drawing up an agreement but wont take steps herself to do it and also there is going to be a clash of ideas around christmas. She thinks two hours each year is ample and wont entertain alternatives.

What would happen if we took it to court? Mediation has failed due to her refusal to participate.

Court would get CAFCAS involved, and we were told there acceptable contact is every other weekend plus contact in the week. And Xmas is split, Ie one year xmas day, the next boxing day.

Did she inform mediation she wouldnt be going or did she just tell you to cancel. If she canceled it through them it puts you in a better position as it shows she is unwilling to co-operate

If solicitors draw up the agreement and she doesnt stick to it, then its back to square one, however if you spend the money now and get a 'court contact order' then if either party doesnt stick to it they can be made to do time in prison or comunity service.

Your partner could represent himself to keep the costs down of gaining a contact order in court? Families Need Fathers have lots of info about how to do it.

upsydaisy.....thats not true.only the resident parent could/would be punished.

also,its fairly rare for enforcement at that level.

you could take a mckenzie friend...

dragonfly68 .. on our contact agreement (which is a standard one) if my partner doesnt pick DSD up he can be punished, and if her mum withholds contact she will be punished. Its there in black and white! So whichever party is at fault will be the one punished.

She cancelled the morning of mediation. She suggested a much later date but they ahve closed case because of the timescale.

We prob would self represent...but how much would it be to take it to court now? Ie gain an heaaring.

price of a C1.....file it now. she'll just mess you around otherwise....solicitors letters etc...all adds up!

and solicitors drawing up a contact schedule isnt going to be legally binding

It very rarly gets to the actually court hearing, or thats what we got told. When we went through it, my partners ex finally came to an agreement as she realised we weernt going to back down and she couldnt afford the court hearing, along with her solicitor having a stern word with her (not ammusing at all). You may find that this could be the case with you. If CAFCAS get involved then you will get contact, it may not be exactly what your wanting but its better than nothing and it will be re-assessed when the child/children are older.

We got the contact order in April and we have already had to remind ex wife about the order when she trys to change thing, stop us seeing her. It does make us slightly more relaxed knowing that its there.

£175, you can download the form from the internet.

www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/C100_1108.pdf

ChoocHobBob Thanks for that, I may be needing that at some point

Try and research McKenzie Friend on Google, or ask around friends, a McKenzie Friend will represent you at Court, help you with completion of forms etc without charge.

My advice to avoid any further hiccups and hold-ups is to file a Form C1 (as someone has kindly provided the link to) or even an emergency C1, giving details of why you feel this matter is urgent (you will have to determine whether the Court will deem it an urgent matter dependant on the amount of time passed without any contact or the effect it has had on the child/ren).

If she continually excuses herself from appointments, the Court will have no alternative other than to make an Order for contact in her absence. If she flouts this Order she will find herself in contempt of Court and can be committed for sentence (although this is rare)

C1 is a order for PR, the form you are looking for is a C100 (available from hmcourts website)

C100 form is for a "section 8" application eg. contact order, residence (sole or shared) order, prohibited steps order, specific issue order etc.

If your partner does have PR then he needs to file a C100, if he does not have PR then he should file a C1 form as well. He will need to file 4 copies of the forms at court.

Cost for a C100 has just gone up to £200 I gather ...

you and your partner should really get along to your local Familes Need Fathers branch for face-to-face meetings, or at least email/contact your local branch to get some advice.