NSW Ex Unstable - Go to Mediation or Family Law Court?

[Youngmummy01]

So the issue between myself and my now ex have had a terrible turn. He brought this other woman to my house and moved her right in, resulting in him kicking me while I was holding my daughter. The police turned up and I have put a statement in and they have taken pictures of my injuries so there is an AVO.

I recently moved back to Sydney with his parents due to me not having anywhere else to go at the moment. Myself and my now ex are not on talking terms at all, at the moment. My daughter turns 1 tomorrow and he will not talk to me about coming to see her, but will talk to his mother which bothers me because she is not my daughter's mother and I don't feel safe him seeing her or myself tomorrow because of what he has done.

So I'm up in the air about deciding whether to do mediation or go straight to family law court. There are a number of things that can stop him from seeing him the children full stop if I have to go to court.

1. He is mentally unstable
2. He smokes marijuana
3. He recently lost his license for doing 165km/h in a 100 zone
4. His new partner doesn't have custody of her own 3 children
5. She went to jail for attempting murder as well as kidnapping
6. She also smokes marijuana

HELP! I want to do what's best for my children and I know that he loves his kids, but I fear for their safety if he has them.

 

[AllForHer]

I hate to be the one to burst the bubble, but none of those things will stop the father seeing his daughter. It might result in an injunction on the child seeing his partner due to the criminal history, and it might result in him being subject to drug tests, but it won't result in the child growing up without her dad. Even attempting to have that put into orders will likely backfire on you as it will show you don't recognise the child's emotional need to have a relationship with her dad and that you won't support it.

If you skip mediation, you'll likely end up being ordered to attend mediation as part of interim orders, so best to attend now rather than later. You are also better off showing you will support the child spending time with her dad because not doing so has often resulted in loss of residency for other parents, and I would hate for that to happen to you.

Again, sorry if it's not what you want to hear. Family court is very different now to what it was ten years ago. Parents are now considered very much equal, and neither has any rights to their child under any part of the Family Law Act 1975. Only the child has rights, which is what the court serves to uphold, and that right is to know, spend time and communicate with both parents on a regular basis, regardless of the nature of relationship between their parents. Parenting orders are only made in the child's best interests, which doesn't give much weight at all to what the parents want.

Hope this helps.

 

[Youngmummy01]

it has helped a lot! Thank you,