Ex moved (possibly homeless) & other Issues.

[Bartimus]

Hoping for a jitnofbadvice and a steeer on how to deal with the following.

I have 14 / 16 Yr old lads with my ex wife (divorced 6 years today). There are no additional orders or other formal arrangements for access to the kids via the court and I pay the relevant CSA every month (early on request) and have done some since day 1.

My ex moved the boys from their school in the autumn to another town about 40 miles away without any contact with me at all. She (and the kids) have led me to believe they were living at an address other than the one they reside at. I am worried they are actually homeless but she refuses to give me any indication of where they are (I suspect as she knows I will seek to have them live with me).

She has also stated that she checks my messages to the 2 boys frequently and intercepts some of my messages.

She was previously evicted from a property owned by a friend and left another owned by a different friend with no notice (this the concerns about being homeless despite receiving about £20k in cash from me a few years ago).

After 6 years of solicitors who just delayed my divorce and ran up thousands of pounds in nonsense fees I am not convinced they can do anything at all here.

Any suggestions / advice is welcome.

 

[Ash]

You could use a tracing service to establish where they are living possibly. Divorce solicitors are not quite the same as family courts. You're right there may not be much you can do about the 16 year old. When does the 14 year old turn 15?

I'll have a think about this ...

 

[Bartimus]

The youngest is 14 in 2 weeks.

 

[Ash]

Ok I would apply to court asap then for a child arrangements order to see your kids (you may or may not get the order for the 16 year old but your nearly 14 year old is still young enough).

Just state that the Mother has moved without notice and prevented you seeing the children after x years of co parenting, and you do not know where they are living. As she moved their schools last autumn, it's too late to do a prohibited steps application to prevent her moving their schools (which may or may not have worked), but it's not to late to get an order to see the children. However, as she clearly has no intention of letting you see them, she will be playing on their ages and saying they don't want to and she can't make them. That will probably be her argument - but if you've been seeing your kids regularly for years, that argument shouldn't wash. Why would he suddenly not want to see you?! It will be clear she has manipulated the situation.

So what was happening before she moved? Did you have regular time with them and for how long? (ie how long since you were separated).

You'll need to have mediation before applying to court. But just book the first appointment (MIAM) and ask to be signed off to apply to court and tell the mediator you don't know where the Mother is. Google family mediators in your area, ring round them and take the first appointment offered. Costs about £125. You could also print out the C100 form and take it with you and give her the page (I think it's page 9) which needs to be signed by the mediator. Just tell the mediator it's urgent.

Start filling out the C100 form now. When you let me know the history, can suggest what to ask for/put on the form. The court fee is £232. You don't need a solicitor to apply, we can help with the wording. You might want to consider using a direct access barrister for a hearing to win the case. Some Dads have successfully self repped throughout, but in view of the 13 year old's age, I think you might need some help. But I wouldn't use a solicitor - they will run up bills. Barristers are very good and will quote a fixed fee. That means you'd need to do some of the paperwork yourself but there really isn't a lot to do until it gets to a final hearing. Some people then just use a Solicitor for a one off job (eg preparing the court bundle) before a final hearing.

How to complete the C100 Form

We thought a guide to completing the form could be useful. This is the C100 form for applying for a Child Arrangements Order, Specific Issues Order or Prohibited Steps Order. C100 form on .Gov website If you scroll down the page you will see...

www.dadswithkids.co.uk

 

[Bartimus]

Thanks Ash