Custody of Children - What Do I Do?

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now

Tammy

Member
18 October 2014
3
0
1
My ex got the twins (6 years old) because I got bad depression. I was seeing them for a while but it was very hard to get better and sort my life out while seeing them. It hurt knowing they where becoming someone else & being raised by his mother & his girlfriend at the time made it hard.

He moved, we lost contact because my phone broke & things happened, but I started to get my life together so I called him we spoke sounded promising. I kept calling and he ignored me so I called him about two years later completely better.

I have a 4-month-old now so I called him, sounded promising again. Then after a few texts he said he needs time to think about it & now it turns out they call his now girlfriend (not sure if it's the same person) mum. Do I have any chance under family law of legally seeing them (custody of children)?
 

rebeccag

Well-Known Member
8 April 2014
147
35
514
G'day @Tammy
Do you have a parenting order (custody decided by the court) or consent orders (parenting order you both agreed to and lodged with the court) in place?
Also, which state or territory are you in?
 

Tammy

Member
18 October 2014
3
0
1
There was 1 some kind of order but that was for a few years I think we didn't go to court im not sure how he got it im in Victoria
 

AllForHer

Well-Known Member
23 July 2014
3,664
684
2,894
I would strongly advise that you find out what that order is because some have time constraints (such as a domestic violence order, which is two years), others don't (such as a parenting order, which has effect until the child turns 18). The other issue may be whether or not sole parental responsibility has been assigned to the father.

Do you have a chance of seeing them? Yes, because the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) stipulates that children have a right to know, spend time and communicate with both parents.

However, the court will only make orders to that effect if they deem it to be in the child's best interests (which, without having a crystal ball, is fairly common).

Given the disruption to the children's relationship with you, I probably wouldn't expect 50/50 arrangements right off the bat, you'd probably be looking at supervised time for a few hours a week, increasing over time.

To start this process, I would contact Relationships Australia or Legal Aid and organise a family dispute resolution conference to try and reach an agreement that enables the kids to spend time with you on a regular basis. Mediation is great for organising this kind of thing in a controlled environment - it minimises conflict, keeps you both focused on the kids and helps you work out an arrangement that works for all parties.

Family dispute resolution is also the first and mandatory step in the court process, but hopefully it won't reach that - FDR is designed to be a cheaper and more amicable way of reaching an outcome so that parties can avoid court.

Anyway, I hope this has helped.
 

Tammy

Member
18 October 2014
3
0
1
Yes it has helped I will check the order thing I have im sure it was a temp thing but I will check... I will contact legal aid or DHS & take things as they come thank you very much for you're help