QLD Stepdaughter's Mother has Recovery Orders Without Going to Family Court?

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sammy01

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27 September 2015
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You need 3rd party witnesses - doctor's reports, etc.... Otherwise, it is your word against hers. and that ain't gonna end well.

Ye,p mum has lied you don't get recovery orders that quick. Don't believe her
 

EmmaN

Well-Known Member
17 December 2015
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You need 3rd party witnesses - doctor's reports, etc.... Otherwise, it is your word against hers. and that ain't gonna end well.

Ye,p mum has lied you don't get recovery orders that quick. Don't believe her
Do they take it into account though? Because we have her booked in to a psychologist. Our lawyer told us today that the courts close today so she will have to wait a little while, is that true? We have to wait for legal aid to respond due to it costing between 5000 and 20000 :(
 

sammy01

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27 September 2015
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Did you take the child to the doctor? You must get a third party to document your concerns so it doesn't become your word against hers.

I've gotta say there is something weird about your first post. I doubt a solicitor would tell you to take the child...
 

EmmaN

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17 December 2015
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did you take the child to the doctor? YOU MUST get a third party to document your concerns so it doesn't become you're word against her's.

I've gotta say there is something weird about your first post. I doubt a solicitor would tell you to take the child...
We were in a little town in NSW so we didn't really know what to do. We just put her in the bath. Her mother has always made accusations that this child has been harmed so we aren't sure if something has happened to her out of our care or not. The solicitor said 'my legal advice is to stick to the parenting plan, but recovery orders do take a long time'. He didn't use exact words but worked his way around it. My mum said it was a bit sus and we were going to work with the parenting plan until we got her in this shape. We have her booked into a psychologist, but it won't be for another month due to the closure over Christmas and the New Year
 
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EmmaN

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17 December 2015
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We are in QLD and my partner's ex is in NSW without permission. She has said she has been approved for a recovery order and told his family members he has been served, but we are yet to receive anything. Is this possible?

She said the court date is tomorrow in Canberra and we should have been served at 1pm today, How does that work out to be fair for him to make it there? How does he fight against this while waiting for legal aid approval? He hasn't been served with anything so he doesn't know what to do. He rang his ex's lawyers and they said to contact his own lawyer, but he hasn't been represented yet.
 

AllForHer

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23 July 2014
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If he hasn't been served, the court will ordinarily adjourn the matter until he has.
 

sammy01

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27 September 2015
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Nope, my understanding is that to be served, not only do you have to be provided with the documents, but there must be proof, so an independent witness must sign to say they witnessed the documents being served.

So lesson 101 on family law, never, ever take advice from the ex. In fact, generally speaking, it is best to assume that any 'information' provided by an ex is a lie.

Next lesson - Given you have taken the child without consent, I reckon you should be having zero contact with the ex until court insists. Do not write to the ex, do not call. Your case is already weak. You're claiming the child came to you with severe bruising and you didn't seek any urgent medical attention.

To withhold a child, you need to believe that returning the child is not in their best interest because they are at risk of harm. Now if a child has been harmed, then it would seem reasonable to get urgent medical assistance. But let's move on.

The next part of the case is that you are removing the child to protect them. That being the case, I'd have thought that you would not want to have any contact with the person who has been harming the child. So do not engage with any communication and make the ex do the work to actually get to court. Do not enter into any discussion with that person.
 

EmmaN

Well-Known Member
17 December 2015
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Nope my understanding that to be served not only do you have to be provided with the documents, but there MUST be proof, so an independent witness must sign to say they witnessed the documents being served.

So lesson 101 on family law NEVER EVER take advice from the ex. IN fact generally speaking it is best to assume that any 'information' provided by an ex are lies.

Next lesson - Given you have taken the child without consent I reckon you should be having zero contact with the ex until court insists. Do not write to the ex, do not call. Your case is already weak. You're claiming the child came to you with severe bruising and you didn't seek any urgent medical attention. To withhold a child you need to believe that returning the child is not in their best interest because they are at risk of harm. Now if a child has been harmed then it would seem reasonable to get urgent medical assistance. BUT lets move on... The next part of the case is that you are removing the child to protect them, that being the case I'd have thought that you would not want to have any contact with the person who has been harming the child.... So do not engage with any communication and make the ex do the work to ACTUALLY get to court. Do not enter into any discussion with that person.

I didn't say it was severe bruising. I said there was makeup on her private parts covering a mark. We were in a little town off the main highway in NSW and didn't know where to go after driving 42 hours straight. As soon as we got home we booked her into a psychologist who has seen her and made another appointment.

We didnt take her without permission, we had her in our care and thought it best to not send her back until she had been seen by a licenced person. We haven't made contact with her, she has made a facebook conversation with my mum, and my partners dad and sisters to say he has been served and for him to check his email.

We haven't cut off contact between the mother and child, she has a phone number she can ring at any time to talk to the child but she hasn't called in a week. I have looked it up on the court website and his name comes up for a date today. He hasn't been approved for legal aid yet so, is it in his best interesr to pay for a lawyer to call the court down there or wait because he hasnt been served yet?
 

sammy01

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27 September 2015
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Hi - look, what you said in your original post was "she was covered in scratched and scabs, all over her bottom, she had bronzer on her private parts over a mark and was riddled with nits." All of that is consistent with child abuse. So let me give you an example... If a doctor, teacher, police officer, etc., were notified and saw the bits, scratches and scraps, etc then they would have had a legal obligation to notify Doctors. Doctors, teachers, etc. are 'mandatory notifiers of child abuse' And if that Doctor's report was done it would have helped your case. Didn't happen - so let's move on...

Ok, so obviously, he isn't gonna go to court today. What the ex has done, I'm guessing, is made an application for a recovery order. Now like your solicitor said, recovery orders can take some time. So what you have today is the first mention. Not a big deal, but you should contact your solicitor to ask what next, just to cover all bases, but also he might get knocked back for legal aid.

I would suggest you get your family to de-friend her on facebook. If she wants to speak to you or the child, she has your number. Just don't get involved with a stupid social media debacle.

Oh and you did take her without permission. You had a parenting plan and you chose not to comply with it. That is effectively taking the child without permission. But don't worry, you did do it with the right intention.