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When to send position Statement
- Thread starter BigLes
- Start date
No problem - best to start a new thread of your own so your post is found easily so I've moeved it here.
So you've submitted a C100 to apply for Child Arrangements, is that right? And a C1A? That's for allegations of harm to child. If it's just for Child Arrangements you just submit a C100. Not sure what the C9? What happens next is you get court papers with a date for the hearing. Your ex will also be sent those same court papers and she will be required to complete a C7 which is her response to the application.
After that it's a case of waiting until the hearing and meanwhile you will get an email and/or letter from Cafcass with a telephone appointment for an interview. Your ex will as well. Don't miss that call. They don't call you back. Yes you can submit a position statement for the hearing. When life was normal you could just take it with you on the morning of the hearing and hand a copy to the clerk for the Judge and hand a copy to the other side. Or email it to the Judge the day before (if you want to be sure they have time to read it) and hand a copy to the other side on the morning.
With remote hearings and short staffing etc then yes it's best to email the position statement to the court in advance - at least 10 days probably, to ensure it gets to the Judge (the court staff pass it on). You can just email it to your ex or her solicitor the night before or even the morning of the hearing.
Can you give a bit more detail? If your child is 1 then the court often only order a few hours a week until child is two due to the presumption of breast feeding. Which is eurgh. Unless the ex agrees to more. Having said that, I do know of a Dad who got 50/50 shared care of a 7 month old by demonstrating in court his abilities for childcare and preparing bottles etc. But part of his argument was he had brought up another child already.
I hope things are more flexible now and they do order week-ends, with the distance - are you on reasonably amicable terms with the Mother? Or is she refusing time? Have you tried mediation first?
So you've submitted a C100 to apply for Child Arrangements, is that right? And a C1A? That's for allegations of harm to child. If it's just for Child Arrangements you just submit a C100. Not sure what the C9? What happens next is you get court papers with a date for the hearing. Your ex will also be sent those same court papers and she will be required to complete a C7 which is her response to the application.
After that it's a case of waiting until the hearing and meanwhile you will get an email and/or letter from Cafcass with a telephone appointment for an interview. Your ex will as well. Don't miss that call. They don't call you back. Yes you can submit a position statement for the hearing. When life was normal you could just take it with you on the morning of the hearing and hand a copy to the clerk for the Judge and hand a copy to the other side. Or email it to the Judge the day before (if you want to be sure they have time to read it) and hand a copy to the other side on the morning.
With remote hearings and short staffing etc then yes it's best to email the position statement to the court in advance - at least 10 days probably, to ensure it gets to the Judge (the court staff pass it on). You can just email it to your ex or her solicitor the night before or even the morning of the hearing.
Can you give a bit more detail? If your child is 1 then the court often only order a few hours a week until child is two due to the presumption of breast feeding. Which is eurgh. Unless the ex agrees to more. Having said that, I do know of a Dad who got 50/50 shared care of a 7 month old by demonstrating in court his abilities for childcare and preparing bottles etc. But part of his argument was he had brought up another child already.
I hope things are more flexible now and they do order week-ends, with the distance - are you on reasonably amicable terms with the Mother? Or is she refusing time? Have you tried mediation first?
Hi thanks for the reply. The C1 was submitted for the Parental Responsibility Order. The C100 was submitted for Specific Issues Order. A later form was submitted (and an additional £260 annoyingly) because I also wished for a CAO. The decision to submit a CAO application based on advice from CAFCASS during the interview, the worker said that she’s expect overnights to already be happening and it would be beneficial to the child, this was at 11 months old (child will be 16 months old at date of FHDRA). All of the above (PR Order, Specific Issues Order and CAO) are being rolled up into the same hearing in two month’s time.
CAFCASS interview was held back in November (initial PR and SI order application was submitted end of September). No additional CAFCASS interview will be held after I submitted the CAO application.
I think I read that the C100 gets sent to the respondent automatically. But the C1 does not. I asked a court worker about serving papers and she told me I need to post (or hand deliver) everything to the respondent. And then submit a C9 to the court that confirms that the papers have been served. I’m not 100% confident she knows what she’s talking about though. I asked her by what date I must do this, I received no reply.
Just on the breastfeeding point: if a mother has expressed breast milk in the past, and the father has bottlefed the baby that milk (albeit several months ago), do you think the mother is then likely to tell a court “it doesn’t matter what I’ve done in the past, I exclusively breastfeed now”?
MIAM was done long ago. Mediation is scheduled for before the FHDRA. Things are broadly amicable with the mother. Contact is weekly, my goal is to increase the duration (but there comes a point where one can only spend so many hours in a park or a soft play area!) but the frequency can’t be increased due to the distance.
Thanks again for the feedback
CAFCASS interview was held back in November (initial PR and SI order application was submitted end of September). No additional CAFCASS interview will be held after I submitted the CAO application.
I think I read that the C100 gets sent to the respondent automatically. But the C1 does not. I asked a court worker about serving papers and she told me I need to post (or hand deliver) everything to the respondent. And then submit a C9 to the court that confirms that the papers have been served. I’m not 100% confident she knows what she’s talking about though. I asked her by what date I must do this, I received no reply.
Just on the breastfeeding point: if a mother has expressed breast milk in the past, and the father has bottlefed the baby that milk (albeit several months ago), do you think the mother is then likely to tell a court “it doesn’t matter what I’ve done in the past, I exclusively breastfeed now”?
MIAM was done long ago. Mediation is scheduled for before the FHDRA. Things are broadly amicable with the mother. Contact is weekly, my goal is to increase the duration (but there comes a point where one can only spend so many hours in a park or a soft play area!) but the frequency can’t be increased due to the distance.
Thanks again for the feedback
That all sounds positive. Good Cafcass agreed to overnights. Even if the other side refuse overnights until child is two (ie if they persuade court) you can ask for an increasing order so the start from the second birthday with a different schedule till then.
If the Mother uses the breast feeding argument. Is she actually breast feeding though?
To serve the C1 you can post a copy, but use special delivery/guaranteed delivery so you can prove it was delivered. It’s also next day delivery. So what you do is keep the receipt the post office give you (or print it out of you do the postage online), wait till it’s delivered - you’ll get an email saying it’s been delivered. Print out that email and attach a copy of that and the receipt to the C9 to return it to the court.
At the same time you could send the court an email confirming you have returned the C9 with proof of service and ask if you also need to serve the C100 or will the court be doing that, if they could kindly let you know please.
Normally they do but it’s best to check in case there’s an assumption that if you’re serving one thing, you might be doing both. I would get the C1 served and wait for the courts response as there is no reason why the court can’t just send it to her. The reason they normally do is because they will also send her a C7 response form with it which she needs to return to the court and they then send you a copy of the C7 response.
If the Mother uses the breast feeding argument. Is she actually breast feeding though?
To serve the C1 you can post a copy, but use special delivery/guaranteed delivery so you can prove it was delivered. It’s also next day delivery. So what you do is keep the receipt the post office give you (or print it out of you do the postage online), wait till it’s delivered - you’ll get an email saying it’s been delivered. Print out that email and attach a copy of that and the receipt to the C9 to return it to the court.
At the same time you could send the court an email confirming you have returned the C9 with proof of service and ask if you also need to serve the C100 or will the court be doing that, if they could kindly let you know please.
Normally they do but it’s best to check in case there’s an assumption that if you’re serving one thing, you might be doing both. I would get the C1 served and wait for the courts response as there is no reason why the court can’t just send it to her. The reason they normally do is because they will also send her a C7 response form with it which she needs to return to the court and they then send you a copy of the C7 response.
Thanks again.
CAFCASS did verbally suggest overnights but this verbal suggestion wasn’t recorded anywhere so, whilst encouraging, it’s not as valuable as a written record (the focus of the interview was on safeguarding and on obtaining PR so living/sleeping arrangements wasn’t included in the report except to say that the existing contact arrangement was supported - which I took to mean that there were no safety concerns regarding the existing contact arrangements).
He is currently breastfed but I presume not exclusively so. He certainly wasn’t exclusively breastfed in the past.
So, on the papers: I’ll serve the C1 by recorder post, I’ll email C9 and attach confirmation of receipt to that email, I’ll also ask about the C100 in the email.
Re: Position Statement, I’ll email it to the judge 1 week before the hearing. And I’ll email (or post it and obtain proof of postage?) it to the Respondent a day or two before the hearing.
I’m sure in the initial letter I received giving notice of the hearing date I was told that they would let me know when I needed to serve the relevant papers. But I don’t want to risk missing a legal step.
Thanks again
CAFCASS did verbally suggest overnights but this verbal suggestion wasn’t recorded anywhere so, whilst encouraging, it’s not as valuable as a written record (the focus of the interview was on safeguarding and on obtaining PR so living/sleeping arrangements wasn’t included in the report except to say that the existing contact arrangement was supported - which I took to mean that there were no safety concerns regarding the existing contact arrangements).
He is currently breastfed but I presume not exclusively so. He certainly wasn’t exclusively breastfed in the past.
So, on the papers: I’ll serve the C1 by recorder post, I’ll email C9 and attach confirmation of receipt to that email, I’ll also ask about the C100 in the email.
Re: Position Statement, I’ll email it to the judge 1 week before the hearing. And I’ll email (or post it and obtain proof of postage?) it to the Respondent a day or two before the hearing.
I’m sure in the initial letter I received giving notice of the hearing date I was told that they would let me know when I needed to serve the relevant papers. But I don’t want to risk missing a legal step.
Thanks again
So I found the relevant guidance see below, apologies for the long copy and paste message. It states that the court will tell me when I need to serve the documents. And it confirms that the court itself will serve a C100 (but not a C1 for PR Order). They haven’t sent me a CB3 but I’ll post a copy of the C1 now anyway as it can’t do any harm to do it early.
“G- Telling respondents and other people about your application
Later, depending on the application form you need to use (see section r), you will have to tell people that you have made an application. These people are referred to as the respondents.
These might include the child's parents or someone who is looking after the child or other people named on the application. Telling people about your application and providing a copy of your application form to the respondents is called 'service'. The next sections, H and I, will help you identify who are the respondents and other people you need to tell about your application.
If you are making a form C100 application the court will give the respondents a copy of your application form. However, if you are making an application on form C1 or C2, you will need to give the respondents a copy of your application form and other documents provided by the court. This will give them the opportunity to send in their own form in response to your application. If you are applying for more than one order you may have different respondents or other
people you have to tell for each order using form C1 or C2.
If a respondent is under 18 years of age and does not have a solicitor you need the court's
permission to tell them about your application.
Sometimes there will be no one for you to tell about your application.
Regardless of the application form you use, a person named as an 'other party' must be told about your application but you do not need to give them a copy of the application form.
When do I tell people about my application?
The court will tell you later when and how to tell the respondents (if you have made an
application using form C1 or C2) and other people (whichever application form you have used).
Q- Telling the respondents and other people about your application
After the court office has issued your application and sent you the documents listed in the previous section, you must then, if you have made an application using form C1 or C2, tell the respondents and, regardless of which application form you used, anyone else you have to tell about your application. This is called 'service'. You must by law serve all these people unless the court has told you not to.
When the court sends you the copies of your application form, and any new forms, it will
also send you a leaflet, 'CB3 - Serving the forms - Children Act 1989'. This leaflet gives
detailed instructions about what you must do.
You may ask a court official for information but court staff are not allowed to advise you
about what to do in your case.”
“G- Telling respondents and other people about your application
Later, depending on the application form you need to use (see section r), you will have to tell people that you have made an application. These people are referred to as the respondents.
These might include the child's parents or someone who is looking after the child or other people named on the application. Telling people about your application and providing a copy of your application form to the respondents is called 'service'. The next sections, H and I, will help you identify who are the respondents and other people you need to tell about your application.
If you are making a form C100 application the court will give the respondents a copy of your application form. However, if you are making an application on form C1 or C2, you will need to give the respondents a copy of your application form and other documents provided by the court. This will give them the opportunity to send in their own form in response to your application. If you are applying for more than one order you may have different respondents or other
people you have to tell for each order using form C1 or C2.
If a respondent is under 18 years of age and does not have a solicitor you need the court's
permission to tell them about your application.
Sometimes there will be no one for you to tell about your application.
Regardless of the application form you use, a person named as an 'other party' must be told about your application but you do not need to give them a copy of the application form.
When do I tell people about my application?
The court will tell you later when and how to tell the respondents (if you have made an
application using form C1 or C2) and other people (whichever application form you have used).
Q- Telling the respondents and other people about your application
After the court office has issued your application and sent you the documents listed in the previous section, you must then, if you have made an application using form C1 or C2, tell the respondents and, regardless of which application form you used, anyone else you have to tell about your application. This is called 'service'. You must by law serve all these people unless the court has told you not to.
When the court sends you the copies of your application form, and any new forms, it will
also send you a leaflet, 'CB3 - Serving the forms - Children Act 1989'. This leaflet gives
detailed instructions about what you must do.
You may ask a court official for information but court staff are not allowed to advise you
about what to do in your case.”
I would email your position statement at least a week before the hearing, yes. And follow that up with a call to the court about 3 days before the hearing to check if it has been passed to the Judge. By doing that it means, if they haven’t yet dealt with it, they will.
And yes just email it to the ex - attached to a brief polite email to her just saying - position statement attached for the hearing. I wouldn’t send that till the morning of the hearing. If she has it too soon she may write one herself countering what you’ve put.
You could mention in your position statement that Cafcass thought overnights should happen, during your discussion on x date.
There is an argument that the Mother could express breast milk for a week end with you. Depending on your ex, she may make a huge fuss and say that is painful and difficult- so it’s a topic that would need to be brought up sensitively rather than kind of demanding it (which I’m sure you wouldn’t).
You could argue though that child has not been exclusively breast fed and as such bottle feeding and/or expressed milk would suffice for a weekend. You could also explain in the position statement, your experience of sterilising bottles, having all the equipment etc. And any other hands on childcare you were involved with before separation. Judges are human too and like a nice positive, confident sounding argument/proposition. Even if it’s something like “I’m an engineer and used to being highly organised and enahrubg equipment works smoothly - these skills have been applied instinctively to childcare, so along with being a loving Dad I am also very practical and hands on.”
Or something - depending what your job is.
Will you always be living an hour away or any chance you could be moving closer?
And yes just email it to the ex - attached to a brief polite email to her just saying - position statement attached for the hearing. I wouldn’t send that till the morning of the hearing. If she has it too soon she may write one herself countering what you’ve put.
You could mention in your position statement that Cafcass thought overnights should happen, during your discussion on x date.
There is an argument that the Mother could express breast milk for a week end with you. Depending on your ex, she may make a huge fuss and say that is painful and difficult- so it’s a topic that would need to be brought up sensitively rather than kind of demanding it (which I’m sure you wouldn’t).
You could argue though that child has not been exclusively breast fed and as such bottle feeding and/or expressed milk would suffice for a weekend. You could also explain in the position statement, your experience of sterilising bottles, having all the equipment etc. And any other hands on childcare you were involved with before separation. Judges are human too and like a nice positive, confident sounding argument/proposition. Even if it’s something like “I’m an engineer and used to being highly organised and enahrubg equipment works smoothly - these skills have been applied instinctively to childcare, so along with being a loving Dad I am also very practical and hands on.”
Or something - depending what your job is.
Will you always be living an hour away or any chance you could be moving closer?
Great advice thanks.
I’m struggling to fit everything onto 3 sides of A4 for the PS tbh! Trying to “set the scene”, state how capable a father I am, and state what it is exactly that I’m asking for is a lot to squeeze in. Yeah one of my worries is that the Position Statement won’t be read so that’s good advice about following up with a phone call (that being said it’s nigh on impossible to get through on the courthouse number).
Random question: I’ve been drafting an example parenting schedule. Would requesting overnight periods lasting a week or two weeks (summer holidays for example) before a child reaches two years old be seen as unrealistic (and hence cast me in a bad light)?
In answer to your question: my long-term goal is to move to within 25 mins drive. This seems, in my head at least, to be a distance where care can be shared more easily e.g. mid-week pick ups and drop-offs from nursery could be done. I intend to state this in the PS.
NB separation was before our child was born and so I am having to demonstrate my aptitude as a father based on the limited time I have with him on a weekend (plus my presence at doctors appointments etc when I’ve been invited). It’s a little bit Catch-22 this situation thinking about it!