Written agreement

[JL**]

I felt forced into signing a written agreement about my child father , what happens if I want this agreement to be scrapped ? Can I do this , and how? can they take my child for even suggestsing I want rid ? It's due to domestic violence , this is in the past and I don't plan on breaking no contact or resuming the reletionship but I am not happy the agreement doesn't give me a choice unless I want my child taken away, I feel the agreement was forced on me and had me terrified what would happen if I didn't sign. Any advice please

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear JL**,

Welcome to our forums. As you are a parent, you would be better posting on the parents forum here.

But as your question seems quite urgent, I will try and answer your post now.

You have been forced to sign an agreement about not letting dad have contact with your child and you not resuming a relationship with him.
This agreement is not a “legal” agreement but is more about what children services expect of you- to enable your child to be safe.

However, you should not have been “forced” to sign this. You should also have been allowed time to get legal advice about the agreement before you decided whether or not to sign it.
I suggest the following:
• Ask the social worker to take you through the agreement and tell her you want to get legal advice to help you understand it before you agree to anything.
• Get advice about the agreement from a solicitor or an independent domestic violence advocate. To find an advocate you could contact Women’s Aid .
• Telephone our advice line on 0808 801 0366 for advice.

But in the meantime, if dad should turn up to your home- call the police urgently. If dad gets in touch, or you or your child have any type of contact with him (for example, by phone, social media, bumping into him), let the social worker know. She might be able to offer more support.
It is important that she can also trust you as well. So if you didn’t tell the social worker, and she found out dad had been in touch or your child had seen him, then she would be concerned that you were not protecting your child.

Here are FAQ’s about domestic violence.

Best wishes,

Suzie