Hi,
My ex husband has refused to return my 8-year-old son to me. Basically this is the situation:
Ex took kids and all property on separation. Family court gave interim orders for kids to live with the dad but the 8-year-old to spend equal time with me. Other kids are teenagers and remain allianated from me due to our divorce, etc.
The 8-year-old remains in his school after the divorce, has been there 3 years. Due to being thrown out of the family home, I took the first available rental about 20 mins away from the kid's school. I just made arrangements for transport regardless.
A house came available 700m from my son's school so I moved back in October 2015. All is going well.
On November 2015, the father moves out of the area around 30 mins away. He tried to breach family court orders and enrol my son into a school local to him. Not successful as the school would not break the orders.
On January, the father won't arrange to transport my son to school on his week, blaming me and saying my son should be moving school as thd order say 'live with the father'. The father makes no effort to transport to school, etc., so my son has been living with me since, seeing his father every second weekend. I maintained fully that I wanted my son to be 50/50 and the father needs to be responsible.
My son has a behaviour disability. It was going really well all year, next to no issues. The dad insists on a change of care, wanting an extra two days. I suggested a split of 2 days each week as my son was now in a pattern and this might be better to start with. The ex refuses and won't negotiate.
On the 2nd occupancy of this change, my son has an aggressive meltdown at school, hurts the principal, police were called for assistance. The principal attempted some form of restraint. My ex-husband makes accusations of abuse against the Principal and refuses to meet with the department of ed to resolve issues
My son was suspended, due to return to school day one term 3. The father is claiming my son is not to return to his school, and will be enroled in the local school near him. The local school still won't break court orders. The father refuses to return my son, claiming he can't trust me not to return my son to his school.
The ex, in writing several times, tells me my son will remain in his care until I agree to sign my son into the local school near him, on account that the ex says the Principal abused my son. I agree with director of education to keep T home for a couple of days until another meeting is held to sort things out. The father refuses to meet and still refuses to return my son.
My son begins calling the Principal names as the father did that are abusive. I begin working with the director of education to seek the possibility of changing my son's school as he is now fixated on an anti-Principal attitude. One school is conducive for both his father and I to transport to but after a lot of discussion and director meetings would not take my son.
I began researching another school. The director felt would really meet my son's needs, we located 2 schools still within the area willing to take my son. I found a solution for transport for both the father and I, it requires a change of bus at the local highschool where my son's siblings would meet him and travel home to the fathers with him on his day.
The department offering to taxi my son from highschool in the morning to school for the father, at no cost. Before and after school care exists at both these schools, should the father prefer to access this. But at the local school near the father, it's only through a preschool who would be unlikely to meet my sons needs.
The father refuses the director's offer on the basis he wants the local school to him and it shouldn't be about making it work for 'the mother'. He says this can all be over if I sign for the school he wants. He says to cooperate with me. I can drop my son to him mornings and pick him up from there afternoons, however, this relies on the father sticking to his word and nog deciding after the fact to rebut this, along with his residence which is now 50 minutes from where I work.
I changed jobs this year so I was closer to my son's school and work only 15 minutes away. Including suspension days and school holidays, my son has not been to school for 6 weeks and remains at his father's.
Our family court orders state that neither party can enrol the children in another school without the others prior written consent. The is ICL-appointed, who has never contacted me after an initial meet and greet at the court one day.
My questions:
I am applying for an application in a case for recovery of my son; How could I word it so it is considered urgent?
Should I include all this type of detail? Am I likely to get my son back soon?
What direction is a court likely to take in relation to a change of schools?
I only agreed to consider it in order to get my son back and create some peace with the father as he sends me almost daily messages telling me a whole array of nasty things that I am not! How great a weight will the court place on the father's claim that the Principal abused my son? (There was no real evidence, just my son's recount after his father had made his own impression known).
How long can this process take to be seen by a judge? Is there anything else I could consider in relation to this?
My ex husband has refused to return my 8-year-old son to me. Basically this is the situation:
Ex took kids and all property on separation. Family court gave interim orders for kids to live with the dad but the 8-year-old to spend equal time with me. Other kids are teenagers and remain allianated from me due to our divorce, etc.
The 8-year-old remains in his school after the divorce, has been there 3 years. Due to being thrown out of the family home, I took the first available rental about 20 mins away from the kid's school. I just made arrangements for transport regardless.
A house came available 700m from my son's school so I moved back in October 2015. All is going well.
On November 2015, the father moves out of the area around 30 mins away. He tried to breach family court orders and enrol my son into a school local to him. Not successful as the school would not break the orders.
On January, the father won't arrange to transport my son to school on his week, blaming me and saying my son should be moving school as thd order say 'live with the father'. The father makes no effort to transport to school, etc., so my son has been living with me since, seeing his father every second weekend. I maintained fully that I wanted my son to be 50/50 and the father needs to be responsible.
My son has a behaviour disability. It was going really well all year, next to no issues. The dad insists on a change of care, wanting an extra two days. I suggested a split of 2 days each week as my son was now in a pattern and this might be better to start with. The ex refuses and won't negotiate.
On the 2nd occupancy of this change, my son has an aggressive meltdown at school, hurts the principal, police were called for assistance. The principal attempted some form of restraint. My ex-husband makes accusations of abuse against the Principal and refuses to meet with the department of ed to resolve issues
My son was suspended, due to return to school day one term 3. The father is claiming my son is not to return to his school, and will be enroled in the local school near him. The local school still won't break court orders. The father refuses to return my son, claiming he can't trust me not to return my son to his school.
The ex, in writing several times, tells me my son will remain in his care until I agree to sign my son into the local school near him, on account that the ex says the Principal abused my son. I agree with director of education to keep T home for a couple of days until another meeting is held to sort things out. The father refuses to meet and still refuses to return my son.
My son begins calling the Principal names as the father did that are abusive. I begin working with the director of education to seek the possibility of changing my son's school as he is now fixated on an anti-Principal attitude. One school is conducive for both his father and I to transport to but after a lot of discussion and director meetings would not take my son.
I began researching another school. The director felt would really meet my son's needs, we located 2 schools still within the area willing to take my son. I found a solution for transport for both the father and I, it requires a change of bus at the local highschool where my son's siblings would meet him and travel home to the fathers with him on his day.
The department offering to taxi my son from highschool in the morning to school for the father, at no cost. Before and after school care exists at both these schools, should the father prefer to access this. But at the local school near the father, it's only through a preschool who would be unlikely to meet my sons needs.
The father refuses the director's offer on the basis he wants the local school to him and it shouldn't be about making it work for 'the mother'. He says this can all be over if I sign for the school he wants. He says to cooperate with me. I can drop my son to him mornings and pick him up from there afternoons, however, this relies on the father sticking to his word and nog deciding after the fact to rebut this, along with his residence which is now 50 minutes from where I work.
I changed jobs this year so I was closer to my son's school and work only 15 minutes away. Including suspension days and school holidays, my son has not been to school for 6 weeks and remains at his father's.
Our family court orders state that neither party can enrol the children in another school without the others prior written consent. The is ICL-appointed, who has never contacted me after an initial meet and greet at the court one day.
My questions:
I am applying for an application in a case for recovery of my son; How could I word it so it is considered urgent?
Should I include all this type of detail? Am I likely to get my son back soon?
What direction is a court likely to take in relation to a change of schools?
I only agreed to consider it in order to get my son back and create some peace with the father as he sends me almost daily messages telling me a whole array of nasty things that I am not! How great a weight will the court place on the father's claim that the Principal abused my son? (There was no real evidence, just my son's recount after his father had made his own impression known).
How long can this process take to be seen by a judge? Is there anything else I could consider in relation to this?