Rights for a dad??

[allyj]

my husband has two children from a previous relationship. We are having an absolute nightmare with their mother and her new partner. This is not a bitter rivalry as we are quite content with our family life however, she is making things really difficult for my husband with his kids. Whenever he goes to pick them up or drop them off she is aggressive and abusive towards him in front of the children, my husband tries to ignore this but it is difficult when she is poking him in the face and F'ing and blinding at him. This last week we have had a phone call from HER father saying he is concerned for the safety of his grandchildren, that her new partner is aggressive and needs anger management therapy he smashed the house up with our children in it and she had to go toher fathers to stay but no report to the police was made. We are reaaly worried about this but her dad won't back us up with anything so it's just our word against hers. Ideally we would like the children to live with us but she won't have this. She has another child with a different partner who has just tried to gain custody but lost. We have been told that they always give priority to the mum, what can we do without causing more friction but helping the children??

[Lawchem]

These situations are so tricky. How old are the children?

[WendyS]

Perhaps your partner should contact Social Services and tell them of his fears that his children may be living in a violent household. If the children are fairly young, it might also be worth your partner contacting his childrens' GP and telling him of his concerns and also alerting the school teachers so that they can be aware of any possible signs on violence.

[allyj]

The children are 7 and 9, but what concerns us is that they were sworn to secrecy about the affair the mother was having and also the house being smashed up by this guy. What else aren't they telling us and how do we get the information out of them without making their mum sound bad?