A bit of background. My ex and I have not been together since our daughter was a newborn. She is now 10. When our daughter was 3 months old I was diagnosed with post-natal depression and admitted to a mother baby unit after a suicide attempt. The lead up to that had been a lot of psychological and sexual abuse from my ex towards me.
My ex chose to move interstate around the time I was admitted to hospital but I had already begged him for help as our baby wasn't sleeping and I had already sought help from the GP.
My ex saw our daughter maybe 10 times in the first 2 years of her life for no more than 5 days at a time. He has not seen her, or had any contact with her in the last 8 years. In addition he has only been paying regular child support the last 12 months.
My family has been planning an overseas trip and I had reached out to my ex through a mutual acquaintance to ask him to sign the required paperwork. He has refused unless I agree to meet with him and our daughter as he will be in the same state as us next month. I will not meet with him as I feel this is a way for him to try to exert some control over me & I am still undergoing therapy to process all of the things that happened years ago. He has since said he wants to see our daughter.
Our daughter has Autism & some challenging behaviours, including self-harm when struggling to understand her emotions as well as severe anxiety. She can also become violent and hurt herself or others if she has not had the support to de-escalate. He has no experience or knowledge when it comes to supporting her and she does not do well around strangers. I am terrified that he would lash out at our daughter and hurt her if she is in an escalated state. I am also concerned that allowing him into her life will have a negative affect and undo all the positive work myself and my family have done to get her happy, in a routine and stable.
My ex's mother, step-father, cousin and aunty all have regular phone contact with our daughter and have seen her a few times as we all live in different states. I have no concerns with them maintaining contact with our daughter.
I am wondering what the process would be to obtain sole legal and parental responsibility of our daughter and if the courts would even consider this in our situation?
My ex chose to move interstate around the time I was admitted to hospital but I had already begged him for help as our baby wasn't sleeping and I had already sought help from the GP.
My ex saw our daughter maybe 10 times in the first 2 years of her life for no more than 5 days at a time. He has not seen her, or had any contact with her in the last 8 years. In addition he has only been paying regular child support the last 12 months.
My family has been planning an overseas trip and I had reached out to my ex through a mutual acquaintance to ask him to sign the required paperwork. He has refused unless I agree to meet with him and our daughter as he will be in the same state as us next month. I will not meet with him as I feel this is a way for him to try to exert some control over me & I am still undergoing therapy to process all of the things that happened years ago. He has since said he wants to see our daughter.
Our daughter has Autism & some challenging behaviours, including self-harm when struggling to understand her emotions as well as severe anxiety. She can also become violent and hurt herself or others if she has not had the support to de-escalate. He has no experience or knowledge when it comes to supporting her and she does not do well around strangers. I am terrified that he would lash out at our daughter and hurt her if she is in an escalated state. I am also concerned that allowing him into her life will have a negative affect and undo all the positive work myself and my family have done to get her happy, in a routine and stable.
My ex's mother, step-father, cousin and aunty all have regular phone contact with our daughter and have seen her a few times as we all live in different states. I have no concerns with them maintaining contact with our daughter.
I am wondering what the process would be to obtain sole legal and parental responsibility of our daughter and if the courts would even consider this in our situation?
