Family court

[confussed_lady]

Hello, im posting this on behalf of a friend...She has a 2 year old with someone who she left when she was pregnant because of his violent abuse, he has never had anything to do with her child apart from a breif 2 weeks when he was born and she was forced into naming him on his birth certificate. She is now happily settled with her new parner and has been for 2 years since her baby was only tiny, he has brought this baby up from day 1 and classes him as his child, she is now about to have her partners baby any day now. Yesturday she received a letter from cafcass to her mothers address saying that her ex partner had made an application to court over access of her child and she is scared and doesnt know what to do.
Since the break down of her relationship with him he has constantly abussed her via different methords threatning her with the courts but she never actulaay thoght he would do anything about it. Obviously with cafcass contancting her at her parents they dont have an address for her....would it be safe for her to ignore this letter? she has never received anything from the courts.
She doesnt want to disturb her young son with this guy, he is very much a waste of space and this little boy has everything he needs including an absolutley dotting father. any ideas please??

[woofgang]

Does she have proof of the threats and abuse?

[confussed_lady]

no i dont think she does, she had been leaving him before she got pregnant then ended up pregnant he threw her down the stairs and she up't and left. He has said all along he wants a dna test and shes gone along with it and like played him at his own game and said he's not yours. Surley he couldnt apply for access to a child he didnt know what his for sure?

[woofgang]

okay, setting aside what the actual facts are, lets look at what the evidence says
baby was conceived while she was in a relationship with the man who is named as father on the birth cert.
she has no proof of the violence or abuse so what the proven facts indicate is that she is trying to deny a father access to his child.....
Now you may know different but can you, or she, prove it?

[Dentalditzuk]

Despite not having had anything to do with the child he does have rights but also so does the mother. She doesn't have to prove his violence but if she is scared of him an what he may do she can ask that he has minimal access in a contact centre, this is usually 2 hrs a wk on the wknds supervised by social services and another impartial member of your family and this can go on as long as the mother likes, the well-being of the child is always paramount but a court will usually find that it's in the childs best interest to have contact with both parents. As for the DNA testing if there is a serious possibility he may not be the father then it can halt his proceedings for access till proof is confirmed, however if they suspect that she is stalling it can work against her and her case. Hope this was helpful. Good Luck