Parental rights when family split

MustangLady | 15:39 Mon 05th Mar 2012 | Family & Relationships

3 Answers

I'm writing this as I do not know who to turn to,didn't know if Family or Law was correct Topic either.Basically,my brother has a little girl now 6 yrs old& he's been fighting for rights to see her for number of yrs.First he managed to get couple of hours visiting rights with mediation.For over a yr now,he manages to see his daughter once every fortnight for overnight w/end stay. He has always stuck rigidly to the timings allowed as he doesn't want to jeopardise the visits.He bows to everything the mother says or asks for,as again he doesn't want to lose his child or the rights to see her.He has had social worker visiting his home to check where daughter will be staying(her insistance),they were more than happy with him.The mother of my niece has done everything possible to make things extremely hard for him,falsely accusing him(which has been proven to be incorrect)of a number of things, from starving his child,keeping her in dirty clothes,him sleeping around,to abuse.Everything to put stop to or delay the court hearings or visiting rights. He had a solicitor fighting for him but they recently dropped the case(haven't quite got to bottom of why this is).He has applied for another solicitor which is being sorted out on 19th March.He has in the past,had court orders in place for visits etc.He was suppose to have had his daughter this past weekend &when he went to pick her up,was told by the mother he wasn't going to get her that w/end as she now accusing him,once again of starving her! His cupboards are full,he loves cooking proper meals & I've been to dinner with them on occasions to be able to spend time with her myself.He tries so hard to keep his cool but finds it harder each time to do this,he will not bite with her as he doesn't want his daughter to see any conflict between them.She is constantly the one raising her voice,being argumentative etc.He today got another letter from her solicitor &he's finding it so hard to cope. He's becoming withdrawn, depressed &sometimes I'm scared what he might do(to himself I mean).She is making his life literally hell.It appears that fathers have no rights at all,all the mother has to do is accuse him of something & all visiting rights are cancelled or postponed until he can prove otherwise.He has been to mediation with her but with all she accuses him of just makes him so angry,he ends up crying when he leaves,out of frustration.It's now got to stage that mediation isn't even working,as he now refuses to be in the same room as her.Our Family have suggested he speaks with a Dr or someone about the stress this is causing him,we are all so worried about him.He is due to get married in April to a lovely girl he has been with for 2 yrs now,she is very understanding & tries to help all she can.His daughter adores her &she is very close to his daughter.I think this is not helping the fact surrounding the visiting rights.The mother of his daughter is still single &I think jealous that he is in happy relationship.The situation is being stressful all round,we all don't know what to say or do anymore to help him.This isn't just hurting him but his daughter too.His ex doesn't know about the forthcoming wedding yet (at least we don't think so).It has been arranged to coincide with a w/end he is due to have his daughter,she is suppose to be flower girl,but the way things are going she may not be able to come.If anyone saw the letters etc he got from her solicitors,some absolutely ridiculous,then they would side with him I sure.But it seems that 'mothers' have every right these days & fathers have little or none.He will not lower himself to her standard &accuse her of things,as it will not do his daughter any good (his words).His daughter loves seeing her dad,he plays with her,takes her to parks,visits family,spends quality time with her all in the little time he has.She is all over him when they are together, smiling&happy. Any advice anyone, please!! Thanks for reading,had to get off my chest.