Back in court again!

[David Roth]

Hi la cordera

Unfortunately, the nature of these internet discussion forums is that people do come and go, and sometimes we do get left hanging when we don't hear the outcome of their case. It is possible to send private messages to other carers using the forum, but they wouldn't reach people whose email address has changed.

If there is anything you'd particularly like to discuss, maybe you could start a thread/discussion about your own circumstances?

[la cordera]

our situation, is identical to that of cellbar
we are ready to apply to our solicitor, to go ahead with finding out, how we go about taking our grandson back to spain with us
as we came home to stop him going into care and to get a S.G.O
we have has him since 2 months old, and he is now 4yrs.
tha mother has seen him less than 3 times in the last 22 months.
the father (our son) 5 or 6 times in 22 months.
the last time i forced him to see his son , on his 4th birthday.
so we are trying to find out how these things have gone for others
thanks

[David Roth]

Hi la cordera

It will be really helpful for you if Cellbar can come back to the discussion, to let us know how her case went.

While I can't tell you what happened with Cellbar, there are a couple of important points in cases like yours.

One is that in making its decision, the child's welfare will be the court's paramount consideration. The fact he has been with you almost from birth, and he is now four, will be important, and the court would not want to disrupt his life with you, and his attachment to you, unnecessarily.

The other point is that contact will be important to the court. The court will be interested to know whether it is in your grandson's best interests to have contact with his parents, and at what level this should be. The parents might apply for a contact order.

From what you have said about forcing your son to see your grandson, it sounds as though you have encouraged contact and not denied it. If you can show that you are happy for contact to take place when it is right for your grandson, but that you need to have discretion to decide when it would be safe and advisable for him, that would be a good argument against a contact order being made, which can be quite restrictive and prescriptive, and not allow you to be flexible according to circumstances. However, you would need to show that you had thought about the issue of how your grandson's contact with both of his parents from Spain - whether they could visit him, or you might bring him back to the UK 2 or 2 times a year, which would maintain the current level of contact.

You might well be aware of these matters already, but please do feel free to ask any questions.