Truancy/Custody

[BrandonsMum08]

My partner has a 9 year old daughter from a previous relationship. Her mother currently has custody but he was awarded access through the courts in 2008 (every other weekend and half of school holidays, alternate xmas/new year, fathers day, few hours on her birthday and his birthday).

Ever since she started school there have been issues with her attendance but the past 2 years have been really bad. We recently found out that despite her being really good with us, she really plays up for her mum and will throw a tantrum to not go to school and her mum gives in.
My partner has today received a letter from her school calling him in on friday for a meeting regarding his daughters attendance, despite this being something out of his control. At such short notice he cannot attend due to work but has made the effort to contact them about going in today or tomorrow despite not receiving the call back from school as promised.

Basically what he wants to know from all of this is, would it be possible to gain custody of his daughter if he were to apply for it? School attendance isnt the only issue. There seems to be hygiene issues (her coming round in her adult aunts knickers!!), she has complained of her mums partner being threatening and abusive (my partner has previously had a harrassment order issued to them also). She quite often comes round in shoes too small for her which are squashing her toes. Often comes round very dirty, however we do understand kids will be kids and because we pick her up later in the day, it would depend on what she has been doing through the day. She also has dietary issues, is rather overweight for her age and when she was with us last summer for 3 weeks, she had a balanced diet (good food with treats thrown in here and there) and she lost 3kgs. When she came round 3 weeks later she had gained 4 kgs. Her poor diet has caused her to be hospitalised with constipation last year which ended up being an on going problem for several months, which is now occurring again.

If you could advise us further, we would appreciate it. Thank you.

[weezypops]

Hi Claire, just to let you know, Mark is out of the office until Feb 4th but hopefully he'll get back to you on his return!

[BrandonsMum08]

oh no, i was hoping for a reply before that. Never mind. Will still welcome a reply on his return. Thanks for letting me know.

[Lawyer Mark]

Hi there!

I am out if the country at the moment. I have forwarded your message on to my colleague Sarah Orrell who is very much a specialist in this and asked for her comments. However, as it may be tricky for me to co-ordinate her response promptly, if you do need to seek assurances or discuss it with someone forthwith do give her a call on 01245 504904 and Im sure she will be able to give some guidance.

regards
Mark

[BrandonsMum08]

Thank you Mark. We had a meeting at the school yesterday and it may be a couple of weeks before we hear of the outcome of the meeting with my partners ex. But as it stands, the school have said if the ex doesnt start cooperating with the school promptly then childrens services will be contacted.

Due to the wait for response from the school, it is no problem to wait for your return, or whenever your collegue can respond.

[Lawyer Mark]

Sarah had this to say as her initial thoughts, and would be happy to chat this through with you if you wanted to speak with her;

'I think a lot of this will turn on the schooling issue. How bad is the child’s attendance? What do the school say is likely to be behind this? Do they think it’s a problem with the mother, the child or perhaps the other children at school? Has the school been working with the mother or is she uncooperative? The father needs to meet with the school and get to the bottom of this. He needs the school on side.



The other issue is whether the parties live in the same area. If the school isn’t the problem, then the Court would be reluctant to make an order that means the child has to change schools. Does the father live near to the mother in which case this wouldn’t be a problem? If residence (custody) meant the child would have to change schools, then it would make things more difficult.



Obviously they should make an appointment to discuss this further. Perhaps try to meet with the school first though'


I hope this helps. Let me know if you need anything else answering or it may be quicker to speak with Sarah directly (01245 504904)