QLD Father has had no contact for 3 years

[LLock]

Hi Everyone,

mum just after a bit of advice if anybody has been through a similar situation.
My ex husband has had no contact with my child for 3 years now and I was recently served court papers stating he wants to resume visitation. I’m had sole parental responsibility for the past 3 years and the content of the fathers affidavit was quite chilling. He outlines that he is living in a sober living facility, is an alcoholic, drug addict and has attempted suicide. He has also stated that he has cross domestic violence orders between himself and his ex partner. I decided to subpoena some records of his and was disgusted as to what had been going on in front of my son. Several serious acts of DV were commuted in front of my son and in one incident, my ex husband put my son in the car and was about to drive away drunk with him in the car. He has numerous DD convictions and luckily the police arrived and stopped anything happening to my son.

Prior to the sole parenting order being made, he would constantly breach orders and not show up to visitation. When he did show up, he would leave my son with different people and not actually spend time with him.

We have court next week and I’m just a bit unsure as to what the outcome will be. I do not want to put my child through anything he may have to recover from. Any advice would be amazing. Thanks in advance.

 

[Jake Matherson]

Given you already have SPR and 3 years absence plus the whole list of ongoing troubles.

If you were to agree to any time with the Father you might consider it to be supervised contact at a contact centre and the father to pay the costs.

The next order would be something along the lines of failing to appear for 3 scheduled visits and contact would be suspended pending further order by the court.

After the father has established 6 months - X years of visits and has a good report from the contact centre and everyone is satisfied that dad has turned his life around then you might consider moving things outside of the centre etc...

This way you are promoting a relationship with the father and leaving it up to him to man up and actually sort himself out.

You might also agree to a weekly Facetime chat with the child if it's appropriate. (seems to be working for me and my ex)

 

[Tremaine]

So you already have orders? What kind of time with dad did the previous orders grant, if any? How old is the child now? And have you responded to his application? What orders are you seeking?

I generally agree with the above - it’ll likely be supervised time to begin with, and if reports are good and the court is satisfied that dad has turned his life around, then it might consider unsupervised time.

 

[LLock]

Hi guys,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. Our previous orders (back in 2017) were one night a week and he used to cancel weeks and weeks at a time and then refuse to bring my son back. We then went to court as he turned up under the influence of something and the judge awarded me full penetration responsibility due to the risks associated with the child being in the father’s care. My son is 7 now and I am seeking orders to have the Father’s application dismissed. He is living in a sober living facility according to his paperwork and has an extensive history of relapse.

 

[Tremaine]

I see.

You understand that if you have the application dismissed, the existing orders will remain in place? So if dad decides he wants to spend time with the child, you will have to comply with that occurring one night a week, or he may seek contravention orders?

 

[LLock]

Ah sorry I was awarded sole parental responsibility back in 2017 so I’ve asked for his application to be dismissed and keep the sole parent order in force