Contact Order - clarifcation needed

[lorla]

Hi there - 2 questions about a contact order:

1) What is the success rate for a father to get one of these? My husband is 'scared' of telling his ex he wants one because her reaction is likely to be so bad but we need it because she keeps breaking our current verbal arrangement. He pays for his child every month through the CSA, calls everyother day, tries to see her fortnightly and does the 3hr round trip to collect and drop her off because his ex won't. I've tried telling him he's doing everything right and they won't reject his request but he's scared.

2) We have the forms from the court for the contact order (and parental responsibility) but are confused about whether there will be an actual hearing in front of a judge? Or is it just a case of the court passing the paperwork?

Thanks

[bobbybob]

Hi Lorla. We had the same problem with my Husbands ex. She stopped him from seeing his 2 children from the moment he met me. We went through a solicitor which was very expensive but we knew that we had done everything right, as you have. When we eventually went to court there was a lot of discussions between the 2 solicitors outside of the court room where they tried to come to an amicable solution but unfortunately she was unwilling to give anything. In the end someone from Cafcass took her to oneside and told her that she had no chance of winning as we had done nothing wrong and we had done everything by the book. We didn't even have to go before the judge. The papers were submitted by Cafcass and my Husband and his ex only appeared for about 5mins before the judge while the papers were all signed. He also got parental responsibilty at the same time and now has the children every other weekend Fri to Sun. Good luck, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about.

[WiseOldSage]

Agree with Bobbybob - CAFCASS will conduct a certain amount of mediation with or without solicitors and you will get a fair hearing. Don't do what I did though and not have an order made off the back of the mediation. My ex said we could be amicable in front of the mediator and then within weeks reverted back to form and I was at square one. I had to pay again for the whole process and he insisted again he had learnt from his mistake and an order didn't need to be made. Don't walk away without an order.