QLD First court hearing in Feb 2020

[nat 2015]

Hi, I have first court hearing in Feb I am scared out of bones what normally happens in the first court hearing.
I haven't been served but I rang the courts because my ex kept threatening it, and they told me I have a court date on the 21st of Feb
Any advice would be helpful.
From previous posts I have posted it's been a long road.
Neither one of us can agree about children . They are 15 yr old twins 16 in April and 17 yr old and just turned 4 yr old.
Right now he only has phone contact but our eldest has just come back to me after 5 months with him.
His come back violent and has been diagnosed with depression
He has issues with his dad. His father has stated that he wants to live with him.
I support my son 100% I personally don't think he should live there until he has the tools to deal with the issues.
Yes I have stopped him seeing 4 yr old due to his continued verbal abuse in front of her, there is no dvo in place at all.
I find it difficult to communicate with him. We need to co parent I get it but his do you with a person who belittles you and does it not just to you but to your children as well. My twins refuse to speak to him and he does text them and he is trying with them and I have whole heartily encouraged them to reach out.
I have literally dragged them in the car at one point.
They don't have any visits with him

 

[CSFLW]

You will need to be served the court documents

 

[nat 2015]

You will need to be served the court documents

Hi, thanks for responding.
I have been told not to stress but this is stressful.

 

[Jake Matherson]

First court hearing is nothing special. In and out in 5 mins.

It's basically just a meet and greet for all parties to welcome you to the circus that is the Family Court.

You might get some Orders to file more paperwork, do an online parenting course etc... nothing special.

The twins and the 17 year old will be 18 years old before this is over and will be old enough to make their own decisions. So if all this goes to court your main focus will be the 4 year old.

The child has a right to a meaningful relationship with both parents. You would expect that at a future Interim Hearing the Father will be awarded some kind of time with the child, probably overnight/weekend given the age.

There are plenty of people on here that will help when it comes time. Write a diary of everything, dates and times. Being prepared and organised will make your life easier in the long run.

 

[nat 2015]

First court hearing is nothing special. In and out in 5 mins.

It's basically just a meet and greet for all parties to welcome you to the circus that is the Family Court.

You might get some Orders to file more paperwork, do an online parenting course etc... nothing special.

The twins and the 17 year old will be 18 years old before this is over and will be old enough to make their own decisions. So if all this goes to court your main focus will be the 4 year old.

The child has a right to a meaningful relationship with both parents. You would expect that at a future Interim Hearing the Father will be awarded some kind of time with the child, probably overnight/weekend given the age.

There are plenty of people on here that will help when it comes time. Write a diary of everything, dates and times. Being prepared and organised will make your life easier in the long run.

Hi Jake,
Yeah his one step ahead of me, his words not mine, and he will make sure I pay for the rest of my life for leaving him. I know that's irrelevant to proceedings.
The orders will be a good thing for all involved.

 

[SophieW]

Hi Nat,

We just had our first court hearing recently. My partner is a self rep and he initiated proceedings. We had no choice as the ex has been totally unreasonable throughout the whole breakup process, and ended up withdrawing all access to the child.

We were really scared throughout the whole process of writing an affidavit, serving it, etc and then turning up at court with no legal representation and zero idea about what to expect. The ex has a team of lawyers.

The court hearing went like this - first we had about 3 minutes to explain what the problem was (ex has cancelled all access to child). The judge seemed very abrupt, and said "you go outside and work it out, and if you can't, I'll schedule an interim hearing today". We then tried to negotiate with ex's lawyer, which was impossible, as has been all throughout the breakup (hence why we ended up filing to go to court). We went back into the courtroom that afternoon. The judge was much more patient and really listened, and we had an interim hearing of about an hour. We came out with temporary orders which restored my partner's access to his child, and they are in place till next court date.

Try to relax - I know it's super terrifying! But in the end it was a good experience for us.

You DO need to get served the documents, and if I recall correctly, he needs to serve them on you within 7 days of filing them at the court and at least 7 days before the court date. That's up to him, though. He will get in trouble with the court if he never bothers to file them to you.

 

[nat 2015]

Yeah I have stopped access to my youngest due to verbal abuse in front of her, she hasn't had overnights at all.
I know I will be harshly judged for that.

Hi Nat,

We just had our first court hearing recently. My partner is a self rep and he initiated proceedings. We had no choice as the ex has been totally unreasonable throughout the whole breakup process, and ended up withdrawing all access to the child.

We were really scared throughout the whole process of writing an affidavit, serving it, etc and then turning up at court with no legal representation and zero idea about what to expect. The ex has a team of lawyers.

The court hearing went like this - first we had about 3 minutes to explain what the problem was (ex has cancelled all access to child). The judge seemed very abrupt, and said "you go outside and work it out, and if you can't, I'll schedule an interim hearing today". We then tried to negotiate with ex's lawyer, which was impossible, as has been all throughout the breakup (hence why we ended up filing to go to court). We went back into the courtroom that afternoon. The judge was much more patient and really listened, and we had an interim hearing of about an hour. We came out with temporary orders which restored my partner's access to his child, and they are in place till next court date.

Try to relax - I know it's super terrifying! But in the end it was a good experience for us.

You DO need to get served the documents, and if I recall correctly, he needs to serve them on you within 7 days of filing them at the court and at least 7 days before the court date. That's up to him, though. He will get in trouble with the court if he never bothers to file them to you.