Mother attempted suicide - rights of custody?

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helpinneed
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu May 15, 2014 11:09 am

Mother attempted suicide - rights of custody?

Post by helpinneed » Thu May 15, 2014 11:42 am

Hello, My partners Ex (the mother of their daughter (7) has attempted suicide. This will be the 3rd time in 2 years... The Child is with Dad currently and he wants her to live with him full time as he fears she is at Risk. She attempted the suicide with the daughter in the house. Dad thinks that social services are involved. What does this mean? Will residency automatically be granted to Dad as he has joint parental responsibility? How does he go about making it official as he doesn't want the young girl to go back to the care of the mother? Please could you advise?

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
Posts: 4207
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: Mother attempted suicide - rights of custody?

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Fri May 16, 2014 11:18 am

Dear helpinneed

Welcome to the parent's discussion board.

I am sorry to hear about the difficult situation your family are facing at the present time. In view of the distressing news about the mother of your partner's child and her attempts to take her own life it must be upsetting for everyone concerned.

Ideally mother should give her written agreement to the current : child arrangement's for his daughter. Our updated advice sheet on the new order that came into effect and replaces residence and contact orders on the 22 April is attached.

As far as your partner is concerned, I suggest he makes himself known to the Children's Services that covers that address where the child normally resides. He should do this both verbally and in writing via the main council website.

He should introduce himself as the father of the child, and let them know that he has resumed care of his child in view of the circumstances you describe. Explain that he has parental responsibility and wants to ensure his child has a safe, stable and loving home and he wishes to do what is in his child's best interests.

Depending on the current level of Children's Services involvement, ie : child in need, : child protection etc they may wish to arrange to visit in the near future to assess any support needs, and discuss current contact arrangements with the mother.

In the meantime it will be important that the child's mother engages with hospital or community based mental health services and considers accessing counselling support for herself.

I hope this helps.

Best Wishes


Suzie

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