Hi, I'm new to this forum.
As it's a public holiday weekend, I'm unable to seek legal advice/ start action until tomorrow and I'm hoping that some members here who have been through similar circumstances can help with information until then.
Background:
My 8-year-old son is on a contact visit with his father. I reside in NSW, his father resides in SA. There is no parenting plan in place.
The history till now is fairly straightforward and uncomplicated. The first time my son and his father met (ever) was in May 2016. His father had contacted in April 2016 and expressed his wish to be in his son's life. He began with phone calls and regularly 'Facetime' called, perhaps 3 or 4 times a week, and also posted him gifts during that time.
Child support had previously not been paid for many years, but he began paying from that week.
Visit one: We then mutually agreed for him to travel to where we live on May 4th (the day before my son turned 8) and spend the day with him, which he did, and the visit went well. Following the visits regular phone calls, and the posting of gifts continued
Visit two: A visit was mutually arranged for my son to fly to Adelaide in July 2016 and spend a week with his father (and half siblings from his fathers other relationships). The visit went well, although he did return him two days after the agreed date and to a different airport than was agreed due to him not booking the return flight in time.
Visit three: A visit was mutually arranged for my son to fly to Adelaide in October 2016 and spend a week with his father. The visit went well.
Visit four: A visit was mutually arranged for my son to fly to Adelaide and spent two weeks with his father. This was the longest visit yet, but as previous visits had gone well and it was the Christmas break I agreed to the longer visit. We agreed on December 20th until the first week of January.
There was not a set date agreed on (my mistake
) as I understood flexibility re the cost of flights on certain days during the holiday period. I contacted his father on December 31st to confirm flights for this week. He replied that he is keeping him until Australia Day (another 3 1/2 weeks!) and will not reply to any texts or calls except to say that I will hear from his lawyer on Tuesday.
I feel that a 5-week visit is far too long, especially after previously only ever having the 2x one week visits. I am also extremely concerned that he won't return him at all. After 48 hours of trying, he finally allowed me to talk to my son on speakerphone. I kept the conversation light and bright and my son did sound happy and well.
What can I do to have my son returned home under family law? What should I do? If I apply through the family court, would anything even happen before Australia Day when he has said that he will return him? With his refusal to return him at the agreed time, I have no faith at all that he will even return him on Australia Day.
The only other relevant information I can think to include in this post is that my son has always resided with me. My relationship with his father was for less than a year. I left due to domestic violence when I was six months pregnant. I later found out that there was a history of domestic violence in his previous relationships and was the cause of the breakdown of his marriage also.
My son is doing extremely well in school, he has attended the same school since kindergarten and is entering year 4 this year. He has been the first child in the entire school body to reach the schools 'achievement/behaviour' rewards throughout the year, often months ahead of the next student achieving that stage (bronze silver gold etc).
He is the youngest sibling of seven children (currently four remaining at home) so he has been raised with a lot of love and attention.
Any help, information, etc would be greatly appreciated. Especially re timeline, costs, etc. I'm trying to keep my wits about me but it's not easy!
Thanks in advance
As it's a public holiday weekend, I'm unable to seek legal advice/ start action until tomorrow and I'm hoping that some members here who have been through similar circumstances can help with information until then.
Background:
My 8-year-old son is on a contact visit with his father. I reside in NSW, his father resides in SA. There is no parenting plan in place.
The history till now is fairly straightforward and uncomplicated. The first time my son and his father met (ever) was in May 2016. His father had contacted in April 2016 and expressed his wish to be in his son's life. He began with phone calls and regularly 'Facetime' called, perhaps 3 or 4 times a week, and also posted him gifts during that time.
Child support had previously not been paid for many years, but he began paying from that week.
Visit one: We then mutually agreed for him to travel to where we live on May 4th (the day before my son turned 8) and spend the day with him, which he did, and the visit went well. Following the visits regular phone calls, and the posting of gifts continued
Visit two: A visit was mutually arranged for my son to fly to Adelaide in July 2016 and spend a week with his father (and half siblings from his fathers other relationships). The visit went well, although he did return him two days after the agreed date and to a different airport than was agreed due to him not booking the return flight in time.
Visit three: A visit was mutually arranged for my son to fly to Adelaide in October 2016 and spend a week with his father. The visit went well.
Visit four: A visit was mutually arranged for my son to fly to Adelaide and spent two weeks with his father. This was the longest visit yet, but as previous visits had gone well and it was the Christmas break I agreed to the longer visit. We agreed on December 20th until the first week of January.
There was not a set date agreed on (my mistake
) as I understood flexibility re the cost of flights on certain days during the holiday period. I contacted his father on December 31st to confirm flights for this week. He replied that he is keeping him until Australia Day (another 3 1/2 weeks!) and will not reply to any texts or calls except to say that I will hear from his lawyer on Tuesday.I feel that a 5-week visit is far too long, especially after previously only ever having the 2x one week visits. I am also extremely concerned that he won't return him at all. After 48 hours of trying, he finally allowed me to talk to my son on speakerphone. I kept the conversation light and bright and my son did sound happy and well.
What can I do to have my son returned home under family law? What should I do? If I apply through the family court, would anything even happen before Australia Day when he has said that he will return him? With his refusal to return him at the agreed time, I have no faith at all that he will even return him on Australia Day.
The only other relevant information I can think to include in this post is that my son has always resided with me. My relationship with his father was for less than a year. I left due to domestic violence when I was six months pregnant. I later found out that there was a history of domestic violence in his previous relationships and was the cause of the breakdown of his marriage also.
My son is doing extremely well in school, he has attended the same school since kindergarten and is entering year 4 this year. He has been the first child in the entire school body to reach the schools 'achievement/behaviour' rewards throughout the year, often months ahead of the next student achieving that stage (bronze silver gold etc).
He is the youngest sibling of seven children (currently four remaining at home) so he has been raised with a lot of love and attention.
Any help, information, etc would be greatly appreciated. Especially re timeline, costs, etc. I'm trying to keep my wits about me but it's not easy!
Thanks in advance
