WA My X is not abiding by parental plan & has / is restricting my access to my 2 kids

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Anthony1974

Well-Known Member
10 April 2015
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Hopetoun WA
Please Help Me. My X has started to not abide by the parental plan we had made in 2018. This plan was done with the help of Relationships Aust, but never put through the family law courts to make it a legal document. My kids live 330km away from me and I have only seen them for 20 days this year. My X suffers from bipola and for the last 8 months she dictates to me when & where I can see my kids. I've had enough of her crap and need advise on the quickest way I can obtain a legal document stating; as I'm the father I have legal rights to spend time with my kids. I'm not chasing full custody or anything like that.
Where I'm at & what I have done so far;
I rang Legal Aid in Albany WA to obtain some advise, but after stating my name they advised me that they had a "conflict of interest" and could not help me what so ever.
I then rang Albany Community Legal Centre, yet again...after stating my name they advised me that they had a "conflict of interest" and could not help me what so ever.
I then rang DCP Albany and you guessed it ...after stating my name they advised me that they had a "conflict of interest" and could not help me what so ever.
I then rang Relationships Australia Albany Office and they told me to ring southwest community legal centre in Esperance WA to get them to refer me back to Relationships Aust so mediation can start.
I've done 18 months of mediation with Relationships Aust in the past & have being issued with a "certificate" that I could have used in family court if needed. But as she was abiding by the parental plan there was no need for it. I don't wish to waste my time with this process as at the end of the day I am no closer to obtaining my legal rights to spend time with my kids.
I am broke & desparate......

Anthony
 

GlassHalfFull

Well-Known Member
28 August 2018
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2,289
I think you will have to do mediation again as the certificate will most likely have expired by now? I'm not sure how long they're valid for but I suspect not 18 months. But you were a bit vague about that bit - you said you did 18 months of mediation... how long ago?
 

Step2Three

Well-Known Member
21 December 2018
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Firstly, a clarification, and an important one as you get into Parenting Matters- you do not have legal rights to spend time with your children, your children have a legal right to a relationship with both their parents, as long as such a relationship does not put them at risk.

The legal document you want is Orders from the Family Court of WA, either made by consent between the two of you or by the court. Either path requires going back to mediation first, assuming your 60i certificate is expired. I can't imagine the ex is suddenly going to make orders by consent of a plan she's not following. If you have the resources you could consider a private mediation service which could be quicker (but $$), otherwise the sooner you get registered at Relationships Australia, the sooner you can get the matter moving forward.
18 months is a long time in mediation, but wouldn't expect the same again given you already have a plan, it should become clear fairly quickly if the ex will either a) agree to make orders of the existing plan, b) identify what the problem is and work out a new plan or c) not meaningfully participate at all.

What sort of time are you meant to spend with them under the plan vs what you have had? Were the regional borders introduced for COVID-19 part of the issue?
 

Anthony1974

Well-Known Member
10 April 2015
21
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121
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Hopetoun WA
Thank you Glasshalffull & Step2three for your prompt replies & guidance. The certificate I was issued has expired as its being over 12 months. We finished FDR with Relationships Australia on the 16th Feb 2018.
My time with my kids has being drastically reduced since they have relocated 330km away, it was every third weekend, any long weekends & half of the school holidays. I have only seen them for 18 days so far this year & that's after I drive the entire distance to their place & fork out for accommodation instead of meeting halfway as stated in the parental plan.
COVID19 regional borders wasn't a concern as I was able to get a pass easy enough; but weeks before the lockdown I suggested that the kids come & stay with me as Hopetoun WA is remote, safe place for them & it would allowed us to bond & reconnect. We only had 2 weeks together over the Christmas / New years break, which I was not happy about. One last point I think needs mentioning; My "X" has Bipolar type 2 & is a diagnosed manic depressive. She takes an extensive amount of medication for this & her reaction to the Covid19 Pandemic was very alarming to me & not normal.
So we go back to mediation, write another non legal binding parental plan & I'm still no closer to having a legal binding document to prevent her dictating to me / us our time together?? In order to transpose the parental plan into a Consent Order it requires both our signatures before it gets stamped & registered with the Family court..... she'll never sign it!!.... and round n round I go??
 

Step2Three

Well-Known Member
21 December 2018
45
12
154
So we go back to mediation, write another non legal binding parental plan & I'm still no closer to having a legal binding document to prevent her dictating to me / us our time together?? In order to transpose the parental plan into a Consent Order it requires both our signatures before it gets stamped & registered with the Family court..... she'll never sign it!!.... and round n round I go??
I think you go back to mediation, making it clear to the mediator that you are looking for consent orders, rather than just the plan. Given the history, it is reasonable for you to seek a firmer agreement this time around and be upfront about that. My husband and his ex agreed to a parenting plan in mediation, but when she refused to 'sign' it, he was issued a certificate and could file the initiating application to begin a parenting matter. Frustratingly, the process will continue to move very slowly. Look after yourself and try to enjoy whatever time you do get to spend with the children. Holidays are coming up soon- are you getting any time in July?
Since you've mentioned it a couple of times, are you concerned about the ex's mental illness posing a risk to the children directly? Unless it was at a very extreme end of the spectrum people will probably shrug off behavior during COVID as a response to that unpredictable situation.
 

Atticus

Well-Known Member
6 February 2019
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I think you go back to mediation, making it clear to the mediator that you are looking for consent orders, rather than just the plan
I agree with Step2Three ..... Unfortunately probably no way to avoid the mandatory pre action mediation & a reissuing of the 60I certificate .... I suggest you use the same mediator, & your reason for mediation is to convert your current parenting plan into enforceable orders .... If she just flat out refuses, on the back of recently spent 18 mths to get to a plan, I suspect there will be little delay in issuing another certificate.