Ex's rights

[claire77]

My ex, and the biological farther of my 4 yr old daughter has never been involved with us. He left when she was 8 months old admitting he wished he's never had her. He is not named on the birth certificate and we claim no money from him.
He was an horrible man who never physical abused me but mentally abused me and i nearly had a break down because of him. Alot of what went on is on my medical notes, he did threaten me many times but never carried out anything, he also threatended to kill himself me and my daughter.
Anyway i got away and although i still live in the area he has never tried to contact me nor has his family.
However i have heard a rumour that he is seeking visitation rights after all this time.
Can he do that? He has never done anything fr my daughter, im terrified at the thought of him taking her from me for the evening, his family are heavy drinkers and live in a 'dirty' atmosphere.
Please help.
Lynn

[sara3]

in the circumstances, perhaps social services can arrange supervised visits on their (or neutral) premises.

[DEN53]

Lynn - if he left when your daughter was 8 months old and she has'nt seen him since, then he would be no more than a stranger to her. Your daughter's welfare is paramount and from what you have wrote, I would'nt let him anywhere near her.

If he is not named on her birth certificate, then surely he has no rights to see her, unless he wants to prove he is her biological father with a DNA test etc.

I would take legal advice Lynn and be prepared if he does try to get in touch.

Good Luck

[momcj]

It is good that he is not on the birth certificate because this means he does not have parental rights. Which would have meant he would besically have rights to all sorts like medical decisions, educational decisions. However he doesnt, so thats good. Try not to worry and wait to see if you do receive anything. If he does get a solicitor and want to see her, and a long way down the line (courts take ages),they did say he could have contact with her. It would definatley be supervised access, at a contact centre or something. But before all that he would have to prove medically that he is fit! Because of what you said about threatening all three of your lifes, this is obviously very scarey. If there is any contact from him direct to you i.e letters, phonecalls anything keep a note of everything dates, what was said etc. Honestly try not to worry, because nothing may come of it, it costs alot to go through court so he may decide not worth it. As the saying goes, " dont meet the devil half way"

[dothawkes31]

If you feel there is any chance that he will try to make contact with you, make it absolutely clear to all your friends and family that he may try to use to reach you, that he is not welcome, make sure that the phone number you have does not get given to him and make early contact with the authorities to express your concern.