Custody Access to see son

[Nottingham89]

Hello everyone,

My Uncle and his ex girlfriend had a baby in August 2010 and they split up just after it and he's been struggling to see him since because she is being very un-cooperative. She was allowing him for a whole then stopped him.

He lives in Mansfield and his ex and the baby live in Filey. He is on benefits and can't afford the court costs and he cant get legal aid at the moment because his ex-wife and him self are going through divorce proceedings and something is stopping him for getting it.

Is there any thing else we can do to help him? as you can imagine its really getting him down and he already has mental health problems from being in the army.

[Nottingham89]

While*

[Nini74]

wouldn't access to the child be being dealt with within the divorce proceedings or is this a different ex you're talking about? the only thing I can suggest is that he speaks to his divorce lawyer as i'm sure legal aid wouldn't be refused for a child access matter just because he's getting legal aid for his divorce. does he pay any maintenance or childcare costs? when did he last see the baby? sorry I have no idea how far away Mansfield is from Filey but don't really see that its relevant. Has she given a reason for stopping him access?

[Smowball]

Agree with nini - the divorce should be totally separate from the child situation and he should be able to get legal aid. Maybe speak to the Citizens Advice bureau?

[Nottingham89]

I did not explain this as good as I thought I did. When he split up with his wife he moved out and started seeing someone else, he had a baby with this girl, not the ex-wife.

He wont get legal aid apparently because he has " assets " and they are his house and until it sells he will have to fund any lawyers etc out of his own pocket that he can't do.

The ex-girlfriend is just a waste of space, she is stopping him from seeing his son because she doesn't like it.