that will be £500 please paid in advance if you dont mind,......oh hang on its strung out further than i envisaged that'll be another £400.....
Sorry, I know next to nothing about family law, and would not presume to offer advice even informally.
good luck I dont know your circumstances but for me a split and acrimonious court proceedings reference our children ended up costing 3 years of our children's lives in the court system through feuding parents and my bill was in excess of 45k with barristers and solicitors fees as well as other experts opinions (term used loosely). think long and hard before proceeding and see if there is a better way forward as I say I dont know your circumstances and would urge you to keep them private I got the result I wanted in court but believe me in family court proceedings - everyones a loser... take heed
The only advice I can give is this - when dealing with anyone in the legal profession keep full and detailed notes of everything that you, or they, do or say. It may sound cynical, but it's something I learnt from experience...
Fathers 4 justice maybe a good place to start Beware the legal system is not aimed at fathers but it favours the mother
I was in the same boat as Phil above. I have three children and a now have a shared residency with my children not just living with their mother as is often the presumed case. Our legal system is archaic when it comes to paternal rights and it costs a lot to secure the legal help required to reach a fair conclusion. To be honest, asking on a forum (for a friend or whatever) is not the way to approach this, it's a long drawn out process that can take years in many cases. You need a good lawyer and they themselves need relationships with good barristers. You need deep pockets to pay for both. Some lawyers seek to resolve issues without causing hostility, others are determined that animosity creates fees, it is best to have a few chats and get someone local as you will be back and forth.
One thing I would advise, as a father seeking to have care of the children, as was my case: I know the courts are biased and sexist in favour of the mother so I got female legal solicitor and barristers. I think in front of the judge it evens the odds a tad.
This is why I gave total access to my children and their father The issue was between myself and him Children seem to be used as pawns and tools to get back at the father as I have witnessed even to the extent of taking the children to the other side of the world It's cruel and some women are a disgrace and the courts allow this to happen if not encouraging it
Thanks everyone for the input/comments so far (the useful/helpful ones anyway ) That sounds a particularly useful tip....thanks......and for your previous comments: "To be honest, asking on a forum is not the way to approach this (for a friend or whatever)" ...Indeed, hence no 'details' (not that I know any, just trying to help a biking acquaintance;-) but there's the chance of a personal recommendation - I think that's what he's after, rather than just hitting the Yellow Pages/Google and plucking a solicitor/legal rep at random.
without doubt after being through the mill as it were I would definately agree that from my own personal experience of the system it that it is weighted toward mothers in general and I understand I fall in the ~11% of successful dads minority. my journey was frought with delaying tactics (doctors notes an hour before the hearing non appearances after my legal team had turned up at my cost), new miraculous allegations designed to slow the process down and it worked -stopping me seeing the kids for some 14 months. all of this with no regards to the childrens emotional needs. one good move that finally come was a judge was appointed after about 13 month solely for this case..prior to that it was a different judge every hearing and that didnt help me for continuity. it was complicated through living in newcastle using solicitors to liaise with solicitors down south and also barristers too.. I found cafcas and also the social services to be prejudiced against me and on occasion outright liars misrepresenting facts which all of my conversations were taped and proved that fact out. I found them to be very accepting of what the other party said but dismissive of my response. so finally the court appointed a nyas representative on behalf of the childrens needs and I finally made progress and can say I have never experienced such a genuine unbiased social worker whos interest was genuinely the childrens needs...not that of the mother or father. she looked at everything what was being said. she made enquiries and bottomed them out to her satisfaction. she formed an opinion only for the court based on solid evidence and the court listened. it took time to get there but they listened. come the day it was decided the children should reside with me and and nearly 6 years down the line that is still the case.. my barrister was an amazing gentleman who I could not fault. I ended up changing solicitors who ended up having to travel down south for hearings at incredible expense. it was a good move as my solicitor was fantastic and I am genuinely thankful for the work my solicitor and barrister did. they never lost faith in me and what I was saying and got to know them well over the 3 years. what I can say is it affected my work. It cost me my house to pay for it. the mental stress was unbearable and at times I lost faith in myself. a very close circle of friends and family helped me through it. if there was a better way I would have took it in a heartbeat in hindsight. sadly I was up against someone with a will of steel to ruin me financially and emotionally and knew no bounds of malicious acts. but I could go on and on a life changing experience indeed
I'd echo comments by Phill above about CAFCAS. They are in my opinion a group that should be totally ashamed of the way they operate. My experience was that they refused to visit my home set up for my children and only met and spoke face to face with my ex-wife. They only interviewed my children at her home, very intimidating for them and they made very young children (my youngest was about 4 at the time) draw pictures of their family and then draw lines with who they liked/loved the most. My children were utterly distraught at this tactic and I had my daughter in tears relating how she made sure the lines were not thicker/thinner etc. In short, CAFCAS were totally biased in favour of the mother to the point they never met me, visited my home or saw my children with me. The judge then opened the case by stating he had read the representations from the mother but not the father ! I'm not making this up, it was a huge battle. I had a barrister and secured a shared residency but it took time and a lot of money to end up with a situation where I retained full parental rights. I can see how many fathers simply could not afford to fight this legally or are intimidated by the process. Basically, you need a good lawyer and go into it knowing the social services are shameful in the way they treat fathers. Fathers 4 Justice are a direct result of the disgraceful way many fathers are treated and I'm just lucky I could get the representation needed to make sure I didn't end up with potentially almost zero rights. My ex ran off with a French bloke so this could include moving abroad, lots to consider.....
