FDHRA help

[Jayy_]

As @JayMC said: deadlines are often ignored. Be aware that position statements can be submitted at the last minute - so don't expect to see hers before you complete yours. It's better to leave allegations out of a position statement - that's the purpose of the C1A from each party with their responses. Remember the purpose of the FHDRA is to resolve disputes arising from safeguarding concerns for the child that Cafcass will identify in their letter.

In my case I only got the safeguarding letter the evening before the hearing and saw the ex's position statement immediately before the hearing. Luckily I was able to talk to the duty Cafcass adviser in court before the hearing, as there were factual mistakes in the letter which I would have brought up in court, but the adviser was able to talk to the judge privately prior to the hearing to iron out the errors in the letter.

Normally, the safeguarding letter should be available in plenty of time to allow you to get any factual mistakes rectified by the author, and to make your own safeguarding responses to the letter in your position statement. Sadly it's often a last minute rush due to frustrating delays by others. It sounds like your ex is purposely not cooperating with Cafcass. I'm not sure what happens if they don't get to talk to her at all - it would mean they would have to sort it out in court on the day.

Hi thank you for this. I reckon I will find myself in a similar position as yes she is not cooperating so will see how this pans out.

Could you confirm what you mean by “get any factual mistakes rectified by the author if there are mistakes” would this simply mean emailing CAFASS?

I’ll attend court earlier to give time to speak to CAFASS ahead of the hearing if need be.

I’ll file the C1A to respond to any allegations if they come up in time & solely focus on child in my position statement.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Jayy_]

I should have said, in my case arrangements with the Ex solicitor were made to exchange position statements on the same day as filing with the court.

Try not to exchange just yours early. But make sure you don’t miss the deadlines either.

The CAFCASS report will arrive when CAFCASS get their ass into gear, neither party can control that.
Mine arrived after statements had been filed, but fortunately it was positive towards me and not so positive towards my ex withholding contact.

Best advice I can give you, is simply try to be nice! It goes along way with cafcass and magistrates if they can see one parent is trying to rise above the games and focus on the children.

I complimented my exes parenting ability (yes it hurt!), in return the magistrates complimented me in open court because it’s not often they hear a parent be nice about the opposite parent.
Fortunately I got the same magistrate in the final hearing and I got everything I was asking for!

Hi Jay, this is a good tip. I’ll try to think of something nice to say about her.

I doubt she will have solicitor unless she’s managed to get legal aid with any allegations and she might be making.

I read somewhere on here a trick to send statement with password protect and give password once I’ve received hers..is that feasible?

I can foresee a lot of last minute going on so will work on child focused proposal to be somewhat prepared

Thanks again

 

[Razbert]

Hi thank you for this. I reckon I will find myself in a similar position as yes she is not cooperating so will see how this pans out.

Could you confirm what you mean by “get any factual mistakes rectified by the author if there are mistakes” would this simply mean emailing CAFASS?

I’ll attend court earlier to give time to speak to CAFASS ahead of the hearing if need be.

I’ll file the C1A to respond to any allegations if they come up in time & solely focus on child in my position statement.

Thanks a lot.

You're on the right track, but I wonder why the C1A responses hasn't been done yet - is it because she hasn't filed one? You should plan for what might happen if Cafcass don't get to speak to her at all. Perhaps call Cafcass back and ask what they will do in that case. There is a Cafcass WhatsApp chatline which I have found quite useful for simple queries. https://wa.me/447798926698

My Cafcass letter said this at the bottom of page 1. :-

NOTE: Significant factual errors (not matters disputed by the adults) in this
letter should be referred to the author. Any concerns about other aspects of
the letter (for example, the extent of enquiries, the opinions expressed in it or
matters disputed by the parties) must be addressed in court.

As my letter arrived at 7:00pm the evening before the hearing, I had no time to contact the author. I got up early and wrote out a list of my concerns about the letter which I had intended to bring to the court's attention. I got to court 2 hours early and managed to go through my list of concerns with the duty Cafcass adviser in plenty of time and before she had a chance to talk with my ex. My letter also had other errors which showed bias towards the mother. For example, during the call Cafcass reported a certain allegation that the ex had made, to which I made a simple reply stating the allegation wasn't true. However, the report only stated what the ex had alleged but not my reply. Luckily, because during my call I had made notes of every reply to such questions, I knew for certain what I had said. It was a simple omission from the author, (probably due to being written at the last minute), but to the reader it completely changed the allegation into a fact.

The end result was the adviser understood and partially agreed with my concerns so spoke to the judge privately ahead of the hearing, so even though the letter advised no contact and recommended fact-finding, the judge said the resumption of contact with the father is the first priority so ordered immediate supervised contact and disregarded fact-finding and directed Cafcass to do a section 7 report instead.

This was me representing myself and my ex having a barrister. It just goes to prove if you plan ahead and read every word carefully, you can be lucky enough to get a poor Cafcass letter more or less disregarded by the court as unsafe.

 

[Ash]

Yes do a position statement. If it's not court ordered, there is no formal exchange of position statements needed but you are expected to share yours. She might not even have one. You can email it to the court - ideally 2 or 3 days before the hearing at least, to make sure the Judge gets to read it. You can then take 3 copies to court with you. Hand one to the other side on arrival (get there an hour early) which is perfectly acceptable. Give a second copy to the clerk to give to the Judge or Magistrates (just in case they didn't get the email one passed on to them), and keep the third copy for yourself to refer to.

Allegations: These are always a shock but don't go into defensive mode and accuse anything back or things get much more complicated. Any accusations you make won't work as a defence against hers. As others have said - try to ignore them! Cafcass are used to Mothers making allegations. All they really want to hear from you is - are you a good Dad and are you child focused.

Cafcass letter. If you don't get it before the hearing, there's a chance the hearing will be adjourned. Hopefully not. It might come the day before the hearing or Cafcass might be present instead (although this seems less common these days). I would chase Cafcass up at the end of this week and politely remind them there is an FHDRA hearing on x date and ask if the safeguarding letter is available yet.

Back to position statement - don;t use that to talk about allegations or ex's allegations. Keep that focused and in a measured upbeat tone, about what the situation ("position") is since your application, what you would like the court to do at this hearing (eg make an interim order for xyz) and anything else you want to say, but DO NOT criticise the ex blatantly. You could say you are shocked by some spurious allegations made and these are untrue. But that might depend on whether or not you've seen the Cafcass letter.

So - questions

1) Are you actually separated?
2) Are you seeing the kids at all and if not when was the last time you saw them?
3) Can you afford to get a barrister for this hearing? It might help get an interim order.

At FHDRA they don't usually make an interim order unless the mother agrees. A lawyer can do negotiations to try and thrash out agreement. If the ex still won't agree, a barrister may be able to persuade the judge to

a) Make an interim order
b) Say a Section 7 report isn't necessary
c) Say a fact finding hearing isn't necessary.

If you can get those things then the process is less likely to drag on for a year or more. You can't really say those things yourself as it won't be taken seriously. You can try but - a barrister has more clout and can refer to the law etc.

Representing yourself is not actually about defending yourself - it's about presenting yourself as calm, measured, child focused and reasonable. Generally results can take a lot longer.

The cost for a direct access barrister for FHDRA is likely to be at least £2,000 however.

A position statement is important, because it speaks for you. You may not get much opportunity to say anything at the hearing. It's an opportunity to speak directly to the Judge in advance, with a well constructed and persuasive piece that influences the Judge favourably towards you. So I think they are very important.

I am happy to look over any PS you write and offer some tips.

 

[JayMC]

Completely agree with what Ash has wrote above, last thing from me don’t be afraid to point out the case law!
There’s some good bits out there about interim contact in the absence of evidence that it shouldn’t happen.

And that the basic premise is that a child deserves a relationship with both parents.

 

[Jayy_]

You're on the right track, but I wonder why the C1A responses hasn't been done yet - is it because she hasn't filed one? You should plan for what might happen if Cafcass don't get to speak to her at all. Perhaps call Cafcass back and ask what they will do in that case. There is a Cafcass WhatsApp chatline which I have found quite useful for simple queries. https://wa.me/447798926698

My Cafcass letter said this at the bottom of page 1. :-



As my letter arrived at 7:00pm the evening before the hearing, I had no time to contact the author. I got up early and wrote out a list of my concerns about the letter which I had intended to bring to the court's attention. I got to court 2 hours early and managed to go through my list of concerns with the duty Cafcass adviser in plenty of time and before she had a chance to talk with my ex. My letter also had other errors which showed bias towards the mother. For example, during the call Cafcass reported a certain allegation that the ex had made, to which I made a simple reply stating the allegation wasn't true. However, the report only stated what the ex had alleged but not my reply. Luckily, because during my call I had made notes of every reply to such questions, I knew for certain what I had said. It was a simple omission from the author, (probably due to being written at the last minute), but to the reader it completely changed the allegation into a fact.

The end result was the adviser understood and partially agreed with my concerns so spoke to the judge privately ahead of the hearing, so even though the letter advised no contact and recommended fact-finding, the judge said the resumption of contact with the father is the first priority so ordered immediate supervised contact and disregarded fact-finding and directed Cafcass to do a section 7 report instead.

This was me representing myself and my ex having a barrister. It just goes to prove if you plan ahead and read every word carefully, you can be lucky enough to get a poor Cafcass letter more or less disregarded by the court as unsafe.

When is the C1A response done? I haven’t had any correspondence in regard to her. I was informed today that they have arranged to speak to her on Friday. Hopefully it happens. I will ask for an update early next week.

My hearing is in the afternoon so hopefully I should have time in the morning to do anything needed if it all comes in last minute.

Thanks for sharing your experience, I certainly have taken notes as I can see quite a bit of this coming in handy for me.

 

[Jayy_]

Yes do a position statement. If it's not court ordered, there is no formal exchange of position statements needed but you are expected to share yours. She might not even have one. You can email it to the court - ideally 2 or 3 days before the hearing at least, to make sure the Judge gets to read it. You can then take 3 copies to court with you. Hand one to the other side on arrival (get there an hour early) which is perfectly acceptable. Give a second copy to the clerk to give to the Judge or Magistrates (just in case they didn't get the email one passed on to them), and keep the third copy for yourself to refer to.

Allegations: These are always a shock but don't go into defensive mode and accuse anything back or things get much more complicated. Any accusations you make won't work as a defence against hers. As others have said - try to ignore them! Cafcass are used to Mothers making allegations. All they really want to hear from you is - are you a good Dad and are you child focused.

Cafcass letter. If you don't get it before the hearing, there's a chance the hearing will be adjourned. Hopefully not. It might come the day before the hearing or Cafcass might be present instead (although this seems less common these days). I would chase Cafcass up at the end of this week and politely remind them there is an FHDRA hearing on x date and ask if the safeguarding letter is available yet.

Back to position statement - don;t use that to talk about allegations or ex's allegations. Keep that focused and in a measured upbeat tone, about what the situation ("position") is since your application, what you would like the court to do at this hearing (eg make an interim order for xyz) and anything else you want to say, but DO NOT criticise the ex blatantly. You could say you are shocked by some spurious allegations made and these are untrue. But that might depend on whether or not you've seen the Cafcass letter.

So - questions

1) Are you actually separated?
2) Are you seeing the kids at all and if not when was the last time you saw them?
3) Can you afford to get a barrister for this hearing? It might help get an interim order.

At FHDRA they don't usually make an interim order unless the mother agrees. A lawyer can do negotiations to try and thrash out agreement. If the ex still won't agree, a barrister may be able to persuade the judge to

a) Make an interim order
b) Say a Section 7 report isn't necessary
c) Say a fact finding hearing isn't necessary.

If you can get those things then the process is less likely to drag on for a year or more. You can't really say those things yourself as it won't be taken seriously. You can try but - a barrister has more clout and can refer to the law etc.

Representing yourself is not actually about defending yourself - it's about presenting yourself as calm, measured, child focused and reasonable. Generally results can take a lot longer.

The cost for a direct access barrister for FHDRA is likely to be at least £2,000 however.

A position statement is important, because it speaks for you. You may not get much opportunity to say anything at the hearing. It's an opportunity to speak directly to the Judge in advance, with a well constructed and persuasive piece that influences the Judge favourably towards you. So I think they are very important.

I am happy to look over any PS you write and offer some tips.

Hi Ash, thanks for your detailed response as always.

Answers to your q’s:

1) Are you actually separated? Never was officially together.

2) Are you seeing the kids at all and if not when was the last time you saw them? One child and last saw child April. She refused to let me see child until there is a court order present. Happened after a disagreement when she moved further away with her partner, their child and my son.

3) Can you afford to get a barrister for this hearing? It might help get an interim order. - Can’t afford a barrister atm. With the way things are going I will try my hardest to get the funds for the final one.

I am not the best with words especially on the spot so was hoping to take the position statement, glad you confirm it’s a good way to go. I will send across the PS I have written for your feedback.

I got a message today to say they will be speaking to mother on Friday. How long could they possibly turn over the report? that would give me an idea of when I can chase.

Cheers!

 

[Ash]

That sounds like they should get the report done in time then but you probably won't get it until just before the hearing. So I would just do your position statement anyway and get it sent in. You can also do a second short one the night before if you get the Cafcass letter after the first one has been sent off. Just take it with you on the day.

Yes I'm happy to look over it. You really want to be trying to get interim time out of this order if you haven't seen your daughter since April - that is a long time.

 

[Jayy_]

That sounds like they should get the report done in time then but you probably won't get it until just before the hearing. So I would just do your position statement anyway and get it sent in. You can also do a second short one the night before if you get the Cafcass letter after the first one has been sent off. Just take it with you on the day.

Yes I'm happy to look over it. You really want to be trying to get interim time out of this order if you haven't seen your daughter since April - that is a long time.

Thanks Ash. Sent you a PM of the one I prepared already. Thought I’d get that out the way as looks like I may have a hectic last mine. Great to know I can add on and definitely will take printed version.

 

[Jayy_]

Completely agree with what Ash has wrote above, last thing from me don’t be afraid to point out the case law!
There’s some good bits out there about interim contact in the absence of evidence that it shouldn’t happen.

And that the basic premise is that a child deserves a relationship with both parents.

Thanks a lot for this Jay, looked into this and added it in.

 

[Jayy_]

Got a message that mother won’t be able to make hearing as she will be on holiday. She will be sending proof to court as it was prebooked. I have asked what this means for the hearing next week and I’m awaiting feedback. Has anyone had experience with this?

Given it’s a school day and she does not live close to family I do worry about where child will be, if child will attend school etc.

Message also says safeguarding letter will be filled next Monday. Would that be given to both parents that day or the court first?

Thanks

 

[Ash]

She can't adjourn the hearing unless you agree. She'd have to just not go on holiday or miss the hearing. How long has the hearing date been known about?

 

[Jayy_]

She can't adjourn the hearing unless you agree. She'd have to just not go on holiday or miss the hearing. How long has the hearing date been known about?

It seems there was miscommunication somewhere as she was unaware of the date. I also wasn’t aware of the date and only found out during CAFASS call about it. The CAFASS call was scheduled just over 2 weeks ago.

 

[Ash]

You should have had an order from the court with the date on and so should she. She might be just trying this on to cause delays. So did you not get anything from the court with the date on?

 

[Jayy_]

You should have had an order from the court with the date on and so should she. She might be just trying this on to cause delays. So did you not get anything from the court with the date on?

Would this have come via egress or letter? I didn’t actually didn’t receive anything either so I could believe her on this. However in general she is the type to cause delays.

 

[JayMC]

Would this have come via egress or letter? I didn’t actually didn’t receive anything either so I could believe her on this. However in general she is the type to cause delays.

The court hearing documents will have been posted to the address details on the C100 application.

I wouldn’t agree to the delay personally, I would emphasise that children contact and the well being is of more importance

 

[Razbert]

The court hearing documents will have been posted to the address details on the C100 application.

I wouldn’t agree to the delay personally, I would emphasise that children contact and the well being is of more importance

It would be to your advantage if the hearing went ahead without her: - as @JayMC says, the children's wellbeing is more important. The court will likely make an interim order for contact in her absence, and direct a further hearing to give her an opportunity to respond.

 

[Razbert]

Given it’s a school day and she does not live close to family I do worry about where child will be, if child will attend school etc.

Message also says safeguarding letter will be filled next Monday. Would that be given to both parents that day or the court first?

You should consider calling the school and saying you're concerned about the child's absence due to the planned holiday that you just found out about. You should tell them about the hearing this week to sort out contact. If they say they can't discuss it because the mother has asked them not to, ask them to put that in writing to you. It will help your case later.

The safeguarding letter is sent to both parents via Egress and is automatically filed with the Court at the same time.

 

[Jayy_]

The court hearing documents will have been posted to the address details on the C100 application.

I wouldn’t agree to the delay personally, I would emphasise that children contact and the well being is of more importance

Strange I didn’t get this. I’ll check in if they have right details.

I sent an email to request for it to go ahead highlighting the importance of avoiding delays in child’s best interest.

Also, according to cafass, mother also claimed she was unavailable other days in feb so I’m hoping as there is limited alternative dates they will keep as is.

 

[Jayy_]

It would be to your advantage if the hearing went ahead without her: - as @JayMC says, the children's wellbeing is more important. The court will likely make an interim order for contact in her absence, and direct a further hearing to give her an opportunity to respond.

Thanks have emailed and emphasised on importance of going ahead in child’s best interest