Contact With Children For Divorcing Dads

Two years and eight months later and finally, we have come to an end of what I can only describe as the most heart wrenching battle for a father to see his children.

My client, in his late 40’s, a respected City banker and devoted father was being denied contact with his children.  Why?  For many years now, his marriage was falling apart.  Constant arguments, his wife berating him in public and even physical abuse.  My client began a relationship with another woman and six months in to this new relationship, decided to tell his wife about it and also, that the marriage was over.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I am not condoning extra-marital affairs at all and that is not the purpose of this article.  What followed next is the nightmare that most fathers dread.

As punishment for the affair, my client, who up until then was considered to be the perfect ‘hands on’ father (as much as he could as he worked long hours too): always at football meetings, parents meetings at school, took the kids to the cinema, was now denied all contact.

We put in an immediate application for contact and received back notification that the mother of the children feared for their safety as their father was an alcoholic and abused her on numerous occasions in front of the children.

This allegation alone was enough for the Court to take protective measures.  Despite my client’s vehement protestations of innocence, the tears of his wife were enough for the Court to err on the side of caution and stop all contact, until a full CAFCASS report had been prepared and a fact finding hearing had taken place.

Complying with all requests was not good enough – my client’s wife demanded more and more from him.  At one point, he simply wanted to pack it all in and believed that his children would come to see him of their own accord, when they were old enough.

As Family Law Specialists we fought our client’s corner – not giving up and not letting him give up.  Starting off with visiting contact, we very quickly increased this to weekend staying contact and now, I am happy to say that shared residence of his two boys has been achieved.  Now my client can rest easy, knowing that he is playing an equal role in his children’s lives.  We can fight for you: we can present your case to make sure that no avenue is left unexplored in your journey to see your kids.  Thinking outside of the box – strategically pre-empting difficulties and dealing with them, will make sure that your rights as a father are never simply pushed aside.

Rupinder Bains

Partner

Bains Cohen LLP