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Child Arrangements Hearing Advice

Not sure whether you should send them the Optometrists report. Definitely the position statement and parenting plan at the last minute. The Optometrists report is for the court really. Did you say in the position statement that the Optometrists report is sent as well? ie will the other side know that you have sent the court the Optometrists report even if they haven't seen it?

On balance I'd say don't send the Optometrists report to the other side - just to the court.
 
ok. I'll email my ex the position statement and parenting plan the morning of the hearing. The hearing is in the afternoon.
 
Actually, you don't even need to share the parenting plan - only the position statement. It's up to you if you think it would be helpful or save time in proceedings.
 
bubblevisor said:
ok. I'll email my ex the position statement and parenting plan the morning of the hearing. The hearing is in the afternoon.
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If the hearing is in the afternoon - what time? If it's 3pm don't send it till 2pm! Is it a video hearing or face to face? When it was face to face you'd literally just hand it to them on arrival at court, an hour before the hearing.
 
I just found out that my ex will be represented by a barrister. I'm still representing myself. Is there anything that I could do to help prepare for this?
 
Well you've sent your position statement, but I suspect the Barrister will run the show and be backing the Mother's corner.

Just go in with the mantra - "I just want my child to have happy loving relationships with both parents". Repeat if necessary. Her lawyer will probably be claiming welfare issues - possibly asking for a section 7 report and/or a fact finding hearing. You can just say - Cafcass have already said there are no welfare issues. If her barrister does ask for a section 7 report then just agree to it. It's not such a bad thing, could do you some favours but will delay matters going to a final hearing.

If she does have a barrister they may ask for the court for more detailed medical reports. More delay again. Did you get the Optometrist report sent in?
 
Yes, I submitted the optometrist report. Hopefully it will be enough to satisfy the judge. It seems a bit unreasonable seeing as my ex stated in her cafcass interview that there are no welfare concerns.

Also, should the barrister not have submitted their arguments ahead of the hearing? Maybe they will send it to me 1 hour before the hearing? Could I ask the court to send me a copy now?

So the court papers indicated my ex did not have a solicitor. But she would have needed a solicitor in order to appoint/instruct the barrister presumably. Perhaps I should email the barrister to ask who the solicitor is. Not that it would help the case i suppose.
 
Yes - it's a good thing to have!. The Barrister may submit a position statement or "note" and it might not be till the night before the hearing. Which doesn't give the court a lot of time to send it on to you.

I think the thing is that although Cafcass said no welfare issues, your ex has hired a barrister to fight her corner because she wants to find a reason to prevent your child being with you regularly. There is no reason, under law, except safety. So no doubt they will be claiming you're unsafe.

Is there any chance you could afford a direct access barrister? You'd probably be talking £1500 for the half day hearing, for a decent one. Most of us aren't wealthy and it can be better to save it till final hearing and pay for a direct access barrister then.

I can't see there are any grounds they could bring up to stop you seeing your child entirely. But he may say it has to be supervised until after xyz has been looked into. Your ex will probably claim she only allowed the time because your Mother was there blah blah.
 
It's not all going to get sorted out at this hearing anyway so it may be a case of being patient, jumping through hoops, waiting till a section 7 report is done etc and then it going to a final hearing.
 
I wonder would it be useful to have a witness statement from people who have seen me with my child and can state that I am a capable and safe parent? Or would that be something more for the second hearing.
 
You wouldn't be able to submit anything like that at this stage. I would email the court and say - you are informed Mrs Ex has a barrister acting for her and please could they email you a copy of anything he submits to the court please. If you haven't had anything by the day of the hearing then ring the court mid morning and see if anything has been submitted. The Barrister might not send anything till the morning of the hearing.

I suspect though, with it being a first hearing, the Barrister won't submit anything (they tend to only do that for a final hearing) - and it will all be verbal submissions.
 
I had my FHDRA today. An interesting experience!

There was yet more incompetence on the court admin side though. The clerk did not pass on/attach my position statement, parenting plan or my optometrists report to the case (despite confirming to me via email that they had.....hopeless!). So I had to read out my proposed child arrangements part of the position statement (didn't get the chance to read the rest).

My ex's barrister (who turned up 10mins late to court and conducted it from in her car!) made a statement that was nearly word for word what my ex had previously said. Claimed that I prevented the child from napping in the afternoon, that I was unsuitable to provide childcare as I suffered depression and debilitating pain, that I had been supervised by my own family as I was incapable. I dismissed the claims as "fabrications", but the court did order me to obtain a GP's letter to establish if I had been on anti depressants and pain medication (neither of which I have had).

Judge also ordered:
  1. There will be another hearing in late October which will be in person, not remotely. They referred to it as a DRA. Presumably it would be the same format only this time in person? It sounded like it will be an extension of today.
  2. both sides to review my parenting/child arrangements proposition and submit a response two weeks ahead of the next hearing.
  3. My requested interim order of slightly increased Sunday contact time.
I feel quite happy with how it went as I am confident that with those questions answered from the GP there will be nothing left for my ex to argue. PLus she is forced to have dialogue with me now and forced to respond to my reasonable 50:50 proposal plan. Having this negotiation with her barrister in the loop is also good as there now will be a level of reasonableness brought into the dialogue instead of the bullying and lies. I'm actually very glad my ex hired a barrister!

I also want to say a huge thanks again to the brilliant help i received here. You made a massive difference.
 
bubblevisor said:
I had my FHDRA today. An interesting experience!

There was yet more incompetence on the court admin side though. The clerk did not pass on/attach my position statement, parenting plan or my optometrists report to the case (despite confirming to me via email that they had.....hopeless!). So I had to read out my proposed child arrangements part of the position statement (didn't get the chance to read the rest).

My ex's barrister (who turned up 10mins late to court and conducted it from in her car!) made a statement that was nearly word for word what my ex had previously said. Claimed that I prevented the child from napping in the afternoon, that I was unsuitable to provide childcare as I suffered depression and debilitating pain, that I had been supervised by my own family as I was incapable. I dismissed the claims as "fabrications", but the court did order me to obtain a GP's letter to establish if I had been on anti depressants and pain medication (neither of which I have had).

Judge also ordered:
  1. There will be another hearing in late October which will be in person, not remotely. They referred to it as a DRA. Presumably it would be the same format only this time in person? It sounded like it will be an extension of today.
  2. both sides to review my parenting/child arrangements proposition and submit a response two weeks ahead of the next hearing.
  3. My requested interim order of slightly increased Sunday contact time.
I feel quite happy with how it went as I am confident that with those questions answered from the GP there will be nothing left for my ex to argue. PLus she is forced to have dialogue with me now and forced to respond to my reasonable 50:50 proposal plan. Having this negotiation with her barrister in the loop is also good as there now will be a level of reasonableness brought into the dialogue instead of the bullying and lies. I'm actually very glad my ex hired a barrister!

I also want to say a huge thanks again to the brilliant help i received here. You made a massive difference.
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Well done, continue to persevere as you are doing. You have a route map.

SS.
 
That sounds good! Apart from them losing your position statement and optometrists report! October is quite some time away for another DRA (yes similar type of hearing) but at least you got more time in the interim! How long do you get now?

The point is - your ex is allowing you to see your child at your home every week, so she can't really claim welfare issues or she looks like she's failing to protect the child (and so her concerns won't be taken seriously). Except she may claim that's why she won't allow overnights.

Presumably you have to provide the GP letter before the next hearing? That's partly why I was saying try and get one before this hearing, to save things dragging on. But at least you have more time in the interim.

I still wouldn't push your ex to try and communicate though, if she doesn't want to - she may accuse you of harrassment - that happens quite a lot.

Stick to very brief communication and only if absolutely necessary. Eg re child arrangements on day of pick up. Best of all don't communicate much with her at all unless she instigates it - just follow the order for now.

What often happens is - there is no parenting plan and both parents parent in their own way in their own time, and that's fine. And understandable if you're different people and living separate lives. Kids adjust to different ways of doing things. The main thing is getting as much time as you can.
 
Hi Ash, Yes the interim order increased the time only by 75minutes but the altered times allows my child to have an afternoon nap and meal at mine. The judge didn't even give my ex a chance to comment on the new schedule.

I hear you on the harassment point. She's already accused me of that. But I've always been meticulous at only contacting when absolutely necessary. Plus now, it seems I am communicating with her barrister and not her. That's assuming she keeps using her - she was no help to my ex in my pinion. If anything it helped me. It must be costing quite a bit too. Particularly as the next hearing will be in person and involves travelling.
 
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