Divorce / Separation

I have a 6 year old son who was diagnosed with ASD when he was 4 years old. He has been living with me and my wife throughout his life, however; at the end of October 2019 my wife and I separated. My wife moved out and moved into her mother's home and she has taken our son with her.

My wife initially refused me access to our son and from my side I have done everything by the book because I don't want to cause any distress to our son. For example, I am in constant contact with his school to keep up to date with his progress and I can quite easily walk into school and take him out as I have joint parental responsibility and the school will not stop me from doing that. But, as I said before I am making sure I do everything by the book to not cause any distress to my son.

6 weeks after moving out and refusing access, my wife agreed to me visiting my son at her mother's house. This arrangement was made through the solicitors and I was meant to go and visit my son at her mother's home. On the day I turned up to find my wife, my mother in law and my son sitting in my wife's car parked outside her mother's home. It was obvious from the moment I saw this, it was a setup designed to ensure the visit was a failure. I only saw my son for a few mins and had to call the police as the mother in law became aggresive.

I am now not going to attempt any further visits as they will pull further stunts to ensure the visits fail and it is my son who will suffer the most. I am pursuing this via the courts but that takes time, a long time...

Just wondering if there are other people out there in the same boat as me? I have said to my solicitor that I want time with my son where he comes over at weekends and stays with me, that I want holidays to be split equally so that I get my fair share of time with my son.

Anyone out there who has been through something like this, is there light at the end of the tunnel?

Parents
  • Yes there is. But you need a court order, unfortunately.

    Went through a separation a couple of decades ago; different story. I wanted my son to see his father but we had to get him to stop some manipulative behaviours to make that safe for my son first.

    It's a real shame your ex does want to play fair for your son's sake, but the court order will be the answer in the end.

    Legally, the courts must prioritise the interests of the child. That is normally best served by 2 well behaved parents.

Reply
  • Yes there is. But you need a court order, unfortunately.

    Went through a separation a couple of decades ago; different story. I wanted my son to see his father but we had to get him to stop some manipulative behaviours to make that safe for my son first.

    It's a real shame your ex does want to play fair for your son's sake, but the court order will be the answer in the end.

    Legally, the courts must prioritise the interests of the child. That is normally best served by 2 well behaved parents.

Children
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