Hair strand test

[BilalDad]

Hi there,

I’ve had a call with CAFCASS and as my ex is making allegations that I’m excessively drinking the CAFCASS worker has said she will be recommending to the court that I do a hair strand test. Has anyone had this issue and if so, what time frame do courts ask you to do this in? I’m worried it would come up positive as I’ve had a few big occasions recently.

 

[Ash]

Hi. My advice would be stop drinking altogether until the court process is over. For court purposes "excessive" alcohol levels are the equivalent of 3/4 of bottle of wine a day or a few beers a day. You need a negative test. Hopefully this will give you enough time before the test, but tbh when dealing with family court you need to be whiter than white. Don't give anyone ammunition. Literally - go teetotal from now on.

 

[BilalDad]

Hi. My advice would be stop drinking altogether until the court process is over. For court purposes "excessive" alcohol levels are the equivalent of 3/4 of bottle of wine a day or a few beers a day. You need a negative test. Hopefully this will give you enough time before the test, but tbh when dealing with family court you need to be whiter than white. Don't give anyone ammunition. Literally - go teetotal from now on.

Yeah noted, was planning to. But just concerned that as the first hearing is next week - will they order this test to be done immediately or is there time?

 

[StayStrong]

An alternative is to swerve round this by making an Undertaking, speak to your sol about this being your counter position and its viability depending on your overall case and allegations made by the other side.

SS.

 

[Ash]

Yeah noted, was planning to. But just concerned that as the first hearing is next week - will they order this test to be done immediately or is there time?

At the hearing they will probably decide to order the tests (if they are going to). You may get the interim order on the day or it may come through the post later, but it should give you a date by which tests have to be submitted. Hence go teetotal now. That should give you a couple of clear weeks. I am not sure how it works, but I think the tests cover the previous 3 month or so period, so if you did drink for England for a month, two months ago, it might possible still come back as high. I would hope though, as hearing dates are not quick these days, that the date you need to submit it by may not be too soon.

I didn't know about an option to do an undertaking, as StayStrong mentions - but yes, ask about that.

 

[DW81]

What if you obtain an all-clear LFT (Liver Function Test) from your GP or even privately due to the hearing being so close.

It may shift the balance to avoid the need for a hair strand test and make the court feel at ease to make an interim order.

No evidence is permissible at FHDRA, however, I doubt a judge would just turn a blind eye to you handing a copy (to judge and to the other party and to the Cafcass officer if present) of a letter stating your LFT is all-clear, and even better if it’s supported by a GP letter stating that in their records there is no history of alcohol issues etc.

But even without the no history letter, I do think a clear LFT test and letter stating so (judges can’t be expected to decipher blood results) may put you in a favourable position.

If you do obtain this, hand 3 copies to the court clerk and ask to be handed to the judge or even better the judge’s personal clerk to hand to the judge. But also have 3 other copies in court with you to hand direct to judge and parties. The other party’s lawyer may object, however it may tip the balance in the directions the judge makes. It shows you feeling confident in refuting allegations. It certainly can do no harm.

A couple of big nights as you say will not alter LFT results meaningfully after a few days.

 

[Ash]

That's an excellent idea. A standard blood test at the GP surgery. Agree not sure it could be submitted at first hearing, but you can submit a position statement and in that say you have had a clear liver function test and the results available. Whether they will accept that, not sure, I don't see why not. Maybe they only accept hair strand test results. But it shows you are saying - there are no issues - I've been tested and have the results.

You could actually ring Cafcass when you've got the blood test result and say to them - had a liver function test which is clear, would you like me to send you the results? They can be hard to get hold of. Just emailing something doesn't seem to work - it just doesn't get dealt with. But if you ring them you might get somewhere. Just say, you're keen to avoid further delays for your child and have results that show no issues.

Do liver function tests show alcohol levels though?

Edit: Yes apparently they can. But the hair strand test can establish someone's alcohol consumption for up to 6 months apparently. It may be they will only accept that. But you can try!

Blood vs. Alcohol Testing | AlphaBiolabs UK

Alcohol markers can be detected in a person’s hair or blood sample. This page discusses the pros and cons of blood vs. hair alcohol testing.

www.alphabiolabs.co.uk

 

[Kyle]

Hi there,

I’ve had a call with CAFCASS and as my ex is making allegations that I’m excessively drinking the CAFCASS worker has said she will be recommending to the court that I do a hair strand test. Has anyone had this issue and if so, what time frame do courts ask you to do this in? I’m worried it would come up positive as I’ve had a few big occasions recently.

I am experiencing the same allegations. I have been denied access to my son since February because I occasionally go to the pub on a Friday for an end of the week pint with colleagues. My ex is making allegations that I have a drink problem and demanding a 6 month hair strand test before I can see him again! My FHDRA is in August. CAFCASS are inbound. My mediator said it is unlikely that the court will entertain the notion of this need for a hair strand test as typically they don't. I've got some quotes for 6 month hair strand tests and the cost varies from £350 - £500. I have also been informed that If my ex wants to pursue this route, she will have to pay the test fee, not me. I've also been made aware of cases where the court wasn't interested in a fathers alcohol consumption as long as it didn't occur when they had the child in their care. I've also read cases where the same thing has happened to a father who smokes Cannabis but has been denied access due to their exes using the 'detrimental to child's welfare' line and the court wasn't interested as long as he didn't smoke it when his child was in his care.

I have been T-Total ever since this saga began regardless but I am not going to be controlled anymore.

 

[BilalDad]

Hey mate this sounds EXACTLY like my situation. I’m thinking to maybe chat to my lawyer on Monday about the possibility of doing a Liver function test before the court date and then just giving them that result and then also making the undertaking that I’m obviously not drinking when I have my child around because to be honest - makes no difference making a promise to do something you’re already not doing.

It annoys me more because her and her family literally pick my child up from me and take him to the pub…

 

[BilalDad]

I really like this idea! I’m going to chat to my lawyer first thing on Monday as I’ve just had a look online and the turnaround time for an LFT is within the same day so that could give me time here to submit before court at the end of the week

 

[Ash]

Ok - suggest you phone the court and tell them you have the results of an alcohol test that Cafcass recommended was done, and ask them if you can send it to the Judge with your position statement, before the hearing. Court staff can be very helpful. I did something like this once and the clerk went to check with a Judge and said yes that's fine you can send it. That might work better than just submitting it.

If they ok it, then you can scan it, attach it to an email along with your position statement (also attached to the email) for the first hearing. You're always allowed to send a position statement - no need to ask for that.

 

[Kyle]

It annoys me more because her and her family literally pick my child up from me and take him to the pub…

Oh don't get me started. If you knew what I did for a living you'd laugh at any suggestions I have a drink problem and still maintained that job!

I'm in a position where the unbalanced, irrational, damaged, narcissistic and unstable parent is trying to paint the stable, rational, sensible, professional parent as the risk to my sons welfare.

The problem with being a narcissistic liar (and I'm hoping most of you dads are taking onboard the Depp vs Heard defamation trial) is that eventually you come unstuck. You ultimately forget your own BS. The truth is easy to stick to because the events actually happened.

I have made full use of my position statement. Everything my ex has done couldn't be further from being the truth or about the welfare of my son. And I'm waiting patiently with popcorn at the ready for a copy of her response. Because she will use that to unjustifiably attack me whereas my entire focus is on how my son benefits from his time with me and my family whilst making subtle references to her behaviour being the obstacle to those benefits.

So take your time with that position statement. Think about how it reads. Put yourself into the courts shoes. They don't care about your grievances with each other, they're only concerned about the children involved. We've got to be the better the person in this and swallow a lot of pride and try and ignore even more hurt and injustice meted out against us.

 

[BilalDad]

Oh don't get me started. If you knew what I did for a living you'd laugh at any suggestions I have a drink problem and still maintained that job!

I'm in a position where the unbalanced, irrational, damaged, narcissistic and unstable parent is trying to paint the stable, rational, sensible, professional parent as the risk to my sons welfare.

The problem with being a narcissistic liar (and I'm hoping most of you dads are taking onboard the Depp vs Heard defamation trial) is that eventually you come unstuck. You ultimately forget your own BS. The truth is easy to stick to because the events actually happened.

I have made full use of my position statement. Everything my ex has done couldn't be further from being the truth or about the welfare of my son. And I'm waiting patiently with popcorn at the ready for a copy of her response. Because she will use that to unjustifiably attack me whereas my entire focus is on how my son benefits from his time with me and my family whilst making subtle references to her behaviour being the obstacle to those benefits.

So take your time with that position statement. Think about how it reads. Put yourself into the courts shoes. They don't care about your grievances with each other, they're only concerned about the children involved. We've got to be the better the person in this and swallow a lot of pride and try and ignore even more hurt and injustice meted out against us.

Thanks for that! I’m working on drafting my position statement at the moment and honestly it’s very hard to get get sucked into just responding to her C1A and false allegations and instead just stick to focussing on my son. Any advice welcomed!

 

[Kyle]

Take your time is the best advice I can give. Write a first draft. By all means get all the frustration out of your system in this. I actually think it's quite therapeutic. Then save it and leave it. (But for the love of the God's don't send it anywhere!!) Come back to it again with a fresh mind and start to remove all the things that make you sound like you're just trying to score points. Start to wrap the FACTS with everything that explains how your child benefits from their time with you and what they lose if denial of access continues.

 

[Roblox]

Hi mate.

I had this when went through court last year.

This may seem an odd question but do you have long hair on your head or is it balding / short like mine

If you do have head hair they can be quite specific in the testing. In my case they took some from the body (armpit). It tested over about a 4 to 8 minth period as it's not exact but still very accurate. They just can't pinpoint dates etc if you have it taken from the body.

Cost me about 450 quid from memory. My test came back with no trace of ethanol and pretty much through my exs claims out along with some other stuff she couldn't prove.

One thing I'd say is be careful who you go with as they need to be accredited and its best to use one court recognises as otherwise your ex will push for a retake. Happened to me but court ignored thankfully.

Do you binge drink at and and how often/much do you drink.

 

[Roblox]

Also don't do anything that might look shifty like shave your head.

 

[Roblox]

Sorry one more thing. Like has been said above even if you did come back with a bad result unless you are a raging alcoholic you can give an oath to be teetotal around the kids. I was going to do this if needed. Didn't have to in the end but don't drink when I have the kids now for a quiet life.

It's ridiculous really and a complete disregard for civil liberties but just a hoop you have to go through.

 

[Ash]

Thanks for that! I’m working on drafting my position statement at the moment and honestly it’s very hard to get get sucked into just responding to her C1A and false allegations and instead just stick to focussing on my son. Any advice welcomed!

If you want to send a draft over to me I can have a look Just click on my avatar on the left and select "start conversation" and it's a private message - you can attach a word or pdf file to that. It helps to have an objective eye over it when you're in the middle of the mire. Advice above is good. I also found it helped to try and detach - as if writing it for someone else - a friend or something. Confidently and calmly. When you sound calmly confident, that comes across.

 

[DW81]

A normal/clear LFT would suggest no alcohol issue.

This may shift the balance into the judge not going along with requesting the hair strand test.

At the end of the day it is just an allegation.

By the way, this is exactly how I shut down similar allegations at my FHDRA. I came with letters and LFT’s which contradicted the allegations and although the submission of evidence was opposed by the other party, in the end the judge was satisfied there were no reason to pursue that particular matter further.

Look, it may work it may not work. But it can not hurt and it certainly can shift the balance regardless of whether it’s expressly stated as doing so by the judge and avoid the hair strand test.

If there was chronic alcohol abuse the LFT would not be clear, certain enzymes will be elevated.

I doubt a clear LFT will be overlooked by the judge, that’s my opinion. Especially one for which there has not been a long period to prepare for in advance by going drink-free. It takes a few weeks to a couple of months to bring levels down to more normal after ceasing to drink.

So if the allegations have just been made and you go in very soon thereafter with clear blood tests, it puts you in a good position.