Hi
I am just going through a separation and have been having so many problems with my ex (too many to list)...
But I have a specific question...
The background is that my wife took off with the kids, then spent several months making it difficult for me to see them. We eventually ended up in family court for interim orders (which turned out to be a waste of time for me to be there). I was wanting equal parenting, but ended up with alternate weekends and half holidays + every alt wednesday.
At the end of the hearing, the magistrate said that he wanted us to agree on the plan for how half the holiday would work out, and if we couldn't agree that he would make a decision. My wife's barrister came to me with a scribbled plan for the holidays. I was feeling really down after how the hearing had gone, so signed it without thinking (stupid - I know... don't judge me!).
What I had signed stated that holidays start the day *after* school ends, and the holiday ends the sunday *before* the school goes back. At the time I didn't think too much about the consequences of this.
Anyway, a week later the orders came through but they did not include the agreement on the scribbled paper. I assumed the magistrate had overruled them so didn't think too much of it. However, the next day I had a call from Child Support telling me I had now moved into a lower bracket. I hadn't realised that the holiday time brought my care to 122/365 days.
The day after that my wife's lawyer sent a letter to the magistrates associate demanding that the slip note be included in the orders. I sent an email to the associate saying I didn't want this to happen, but I have been told that they would have disregarded my email, and I had no reply from them. My lawyer tells me that as I signed the paper I will probably be stuck with it. The issue I have (having now thought it through) is that now I will need to wait until saturday morning to go on holidays, and also those extra nights I have lost will bring my care back under 120 - so back to full child support!
Can I do anything to prevent them from changing the orders? I saw online something about Family Law Rule 17.02 which said they had to consult me before changing the orders - is this the case because I haven't heard from them yet.
Would appreciate help on how I can prevent this change from taking place...
I am just going through a separation and have been having so many problems with my ex (too many to list)...
But I have a specific question...
The background is that my wife took off with the kids, then spent several months making it difficult for me to see them. We eventually ended up in family court for interim orders (which turned out to be a waste of time for me to be there). I was wanting equal parenting, but ended up with alternate weekends and half holidays + every alt wednesday.
At the end of the hearing, the magistrate said that he wanted us to agree on the plan for how half the holiday would work out, and if we couldn't agree that he would make a decision. My wife's barrister came to me with a scribbled plan for the holidays. I was feeling really down after how the hearing had gone, so signed it without thinking (stupid - I know... don't judge me!).
What I had signed stated that holidays start the day *after* school ends, and the holiday ends the sunday *before* the school goes back. At the time I didn't think too much about the consequences of this.
Anyway, a week later the orders came through but they did not include the agreement on the scribbled paper. I assumed the magistrate had overruled them so didn't think too much of it. However, the next day I had a call from Child Support telling me I had now moved into a lower bracket. I hadn't realised that the holiday time brought my care to 122/365 days.
The day after that my wife's lawyer sent a letter to the magistrates associate demanding that the slip note be included in the orders. I sent an email to the associate saying I didn't want this to happen, but I have been told that they would have disregarded my email, and I had no reply from them. My lawyer tells me that as I signed the paper I will probably be stuck with it. The issue I have (having now thought it through) is that now I will need to wait until saturday morning to go on holidays, and also those extra nights I have lost will bring my care back under 120 - so back to full child support!
Can I do anything to prevent them from changing the orders? I saw online something about Family Law Rule 17.02 which said they had to consult me before changing the orders - is this the case because I haven't heard from them yet.
Would appreciate help on how I can prevent this change from taking place...