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We acted on behalf of a father in a child arrangements dispute concerning two young children. Proceedings had been issued, for which we were already instructed, relating to which parent the children should live with. The children were living with the father pending proceedings and contact with the mother had been progressing in the community.
However, one afternoon following contact, the mother decided to retain the children in her care and refused to return them to their home with the father. The father approached us seeking support and urgent assistance to return his children into his care.
At the time, there were no orders in place stipulating that the children were to live with their father, or vice versa. The father had applied for a lives with Order due to safeguarding concerns which were yet to be determined by the Court. The father had agreed to the children spending time with their mother privately.
The Police were unable to assist with the immediate return of the children as there was no Order in place.
The father had safeguarding concerns in relation to the mother’s ability to care for the children.
The father was advised to avoid the mother’s home address to avoid the children being exposed to parental conflict.
The mother had not responded to communications from the father, and us seeking the return of the children.
Swift action: we acted immediately, by advising that the appropriate next step was to issue an application for a Specific Issues Order seeking the return of the children. Due to the safeguarding concerns that the father had, we advised that the application was to be made on an urgent basis to encourage the court to list the matter for a hearing at the earliest opportunity.
Continuing to seek co-operation with the mother: we continued to communicate with the mother, and the local authority to return the children. We ensured the father felt supported by asking for updates in relation to the children that could be passed on in the interim.
In this case, the court agreed to list an urgent hearing and ultimately determined that it was in the best interests of the children to be returned to the father. A Specific Issue Order was granted, ordering the mother to return the children into the father’s care. We also successfully convinced the court to grant a Prohibited Steps Order preventing the mother from repeating her actions in the future. This brought significant relief following a few days of uncertainty and disruption for the family.
With the granting of a court order, the father was able to collect the children and felt reassured that he could contact the Police to assist if the mother was uncooperative.
We are committed to providing legal assistance to clients facing similar issues. While parents refusing to return children to the care of the other parent is one instance where a Specific Issue Order may be granted, it is not the only instance.
Specific Issue Orders can be applied for if there is a specific question that has arisen, or may arise, in respect of any aspect of parental responsibility for a child.
In the past we have advised and assisted clients with a range of specific issues, such as which school a child is to attend, change of name application and permission to remove the children from the jurisdiction.
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