Divorce and Contempt of Court

In 2015 I had to leave an abusive relationship and go to a refuge ,I was in poor health due to the relationship.I was told to go no contact by the refugeprobably not good advice I realise now .but I was in poor mental state and suicidal because of the children.I eventually got out of the refuge to work nearer to the children, 7 months had gone by and my wife refused me contact with the children. I was very fragile and this sent me down to suicidal thinking again.she was already in a new relationship and posted pictures on Facebook of her and her new partner ,it was an awful time for me.I lost my job because of poor performance. I moved back to my home town.I was on benefits for a few months and was forced of them by the dwp who disregarded my circumstances. I struggled for years in poor employment and in poor health paying child maintenance and 17000 pound of debt which some of which was in her name .years past I could bare the fact no one had even tried to contact me it was devastating .In 2019 while on lockdown I found she had got a divorce and had remarried with out any contact with me .My investigation has found the divorce took place in 2016, 8 months after the separation and a marriage in the same year.Ive been ruined by this in such poor financial state because of the debt and the situation of no child contact or agreement of any kind. I contacted the police ,at every turn it comes back to litigation through civil means.i have no money for solicitors. I need some advice of how to highlight to the court that my signature had been falsified to avoid litigation and mediation as she refinanced her debt during the marriage with a mortgage with my name on it .She has hidden assets and now has moved house closed relevant accounts and am now left paying 15000 pounds of her debt which is in joint names.She would not ask for a divorce as she knew she owed me money,the children where always used as weapons to threaten me with abandonment, which she followed through. I've had my life ruined and my health has suffered.im at a loss and am trying to move forward but at every turn it all about this divorce which gave her the power to get away with everything, any advice would be appreciated.

Hi. I am divorced and have monthly access to my daughter granted by the family court. It was not dependant on maintenance. Prior to covid I never missed a monthly payment for four years,now I have lost my income, I reduced payment to a nominal sum and made up the defecit with the first govt grant and will make up the new deficit with the second grant. My ex is stopping me seeing my daughter until my finances are sorted. She is therefore in contempt of the order. What is my next step please.

Thank you for taking the time to help me. I am going thru a messy divorce.I have been ordered to provide information, I cannot provide this information because if I do I will be killed or very seriously harmed (I was involved with the wrong crowd), so I have to keep my mouth shut and not be seen to be helping law enforcement and courts etc, it leaves me in a very difficult position, I do not want to be held in contempt of court and goto prison, but on the other side its a much safer option then being dealt with by others. What I wish to ask is, how long can I be sent to prison for, ive never committed any crime, I point blank will not comply with the order, so I dont see that any other option but prison being given. If you could give me an indication of how long I could expect that would be great, ive googled around and found that a guy in London got 6 months and an 83 year old gentleman got 18 months... Any help and advice you could give would be much appreciated. Would telling the judge either personally or thru my barrister that I am at risk of death or serious harm if I comply make any difference or will they just think its an easy get out for not complying. Thank you

Having previously had to sign an undertaking not to try to change the child's school on pain of fine or prison, the parent is ordered again by the Family Court that the child 'shall go' to a certain secondary school. The court warns the parents that an appeal may be necessary, but should still be undertaken to accomplish the purpose of the court. After the final school appeal process starts the first parent submits a long statement and 'evidence' to convince the panel to allocate the child to the school, which had been declined by the court. The panel dismisses the appeal. Is the first parent liable to contempt of court, and also the county court, which is full aware of the legal position, for assisting the parent disobeying the order to defeat the purpose of the court?

My 32 year son has a joint mortgage of 3 years and two boys age 8 and 10 in march.His girlfriend of 12years has decided she does not love him any more and asked him to move out, she thinks she can run the house on her own but only works 22hrs a week so she said her benefits will go up. He has stayed with me for two weeks but is going back this Friday as I can not permanently put him up and he cannot afford to rent anywhere.He is devastated as he has just finished the kitchen for her.What rights does he have?He has never hit her but has spoken to her horrible but not name called and they have just set up a joint account which she has control of. Please can you send me some advice. fish

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I'm afraid this is beyond our remit to advise. Scottish family law may be different to English ones, so this makes it impossible to predict what a court may decide. We certainly couldn't contradict your lawyer's advice as he/she is much more familiar with the circumstances. But, a further professional opinion may be helpful here.

I and my husband made a decision to relocate our family from Edinburgh to aberdeen due to my eldest getting into a bad social circle. My husband changed his mind the next day and left the family home. I continued with the plan to move as this was in the best interest for my kids. I moved then my ex served me papers for court with a interdict stopping me moving but I had already moved and now supposedly I'm in contempt of court. My lawyer has told me if I don't move back then my ex husband will get the children. I am in able to return as we will have no home and the kids no longer have there place in schools and nursery. The are settled and enjoying there new schools/Nursery's and we have my whole family as support. My lawyer has said I am going to lose my kids next week as I broke the law. I 100% did not know I had to apply to court to move a little over 2 hours away. Please can someone help am I really going to lose my children. Thank you

I think my husband may of filed for divorce and forged my signature. We live together,says he loves me. We are approaching out 10 yr mark and I will be entitled to half his retirement then. I keep seeing in our search browser my divorce papers login. As well as when to send out wedding announcements. Gifts for groomsman,the Knot and wedding registry at Bed Bath and beyond. How do I find out,I think he did it outside of Colorado where we live.

I failed to attend a court order child modication and the judge placed a warrant with a 4000 sure pay. What can i do to rwmove the warrant if i am unable to pay???

I am in the midst of a divorce proceedings. I wonder ifyou know any case laws in the UK that contempt of court on child custody resulted a judgement / punishments being decided? Would be great if I can have the case name and references directions if possible. This will tremendously help for me to get the case moving and the services needed. Thanks.

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I can't advise directly. Your only option to see whether this can be followed up would be to consult a solicitor who can analyse the documents and evidence to see if you have a case to answer.

My ex husband divorced me whilst I was vulnerable. Due to an accident at work, i was left disabled and for pain relief took oramorph. I'm free of oramorph, divorce in 2012, and have found an asset that he hid in his mistresses name and boss. He claimed on the Internet that he was a resident of the property but on the form E he used an address that we rented out. In court under oath, he told the judge he had nothing to do with the other house and merely put two people together. I have managed to get the planning application for the house, and his signature is on it. Is this a clear case of perjury etc.

@SeparatedDads.Ref my last, I am in the UK. Lancashire.

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I am sorry to hear this. I'm afraid as we are a UK-based website dealing in only UK-based family law, we can't answer your question. However, I hope some of our other readers might and I hope you manage to sort these issues out soon.

Me and my wife of 7 years split recently. She left the marital home to reside with her sister. I stayed at the family home with our 2 children. We had agreed that she would see the children every night after school till 7pm and alt weekends. On her first weekend seeing the children she failed to turn up on one of the days. The previous day i had to report her to the police for treating to have me arrested and have my locks drilled out of my home because she had wanted a dress and pair of shoes to go for a night out that evening. This had a massive effect on the kids, and they were hurt by her not collecting them. I began thinking it had something to do with the fact I HAD PAID to go to mediation and put a child arrangements order into court earlier that week. I told her sister that if she was going to use the kids as a weapon because she did not like the fact i had made the first move in the interest of the children then maybe it would be best if i arranged contact center for her so the children would not be hurt again. Again this did not go down very well. She turned up to my property with the police the following day (I requested due to threats) to collect the rest of her belongings. That resulted in her removing all the children's clothes, police said cival matter. The next day i informed the school that she might try to remove them but thay told me without an order they couldn't stop her. I then went to social services who told me the same and cival matter? If the shoe had been on the other foot i would have been arrested and charged with breach of the peace??Ihave since found out she has relocated herself and my children across the country to a women's refuge claiming DV and i do not have any contact with them what so ever as she will not respond, changed mobile number, ect. I have parental responsibility which she is denying me of. Surely thats against the law? I have now been to 3 court hearings which she has not attended any of.My question is this... If the children were already stable i.e school, support, health, ect and she is clearly not bothered about the courts orders to attend. Why is it taking so long to get things sorted out? I do understand that my needs are not important but the childrens are. The longer this is allowed to go on the more i feel it will be unfair to remove them back to my care as i want to disrupt them as little as possible so they dont get/feel hurt. I put all my trust into the justice system which seems to be failing me as far as im concerned. And she is able to do as/what she wants regardless with no consequences.

My ex wont bring my 4 yr old son home after hes had him for the week. I have been to court twice before and obtained a court order saying he must bring him back or could be in contempt. The judge got him to sign an undertaking to the court that he would always return him but continues to break the promise and now with school approaching threatens to keep him,stating safeguarding issues as the reason. This isnt the first time this has happened. I am desperate and very stressed about the whole thing. Please help!

@JG - please see link Breach of Contact or Residence Order: What to Do here. I hope this helps.

Hi3 weeks ago I was in court, fighting to have access to my children. My EX made some horribly false accusations. For now I was allowed to write to the children and that the mother would email me updates every 2 weeks with photos. This was stipulated by the judge. I have sent the children a letter and had it sent recorded delivery, the mother has not accepted this letter and is sat at the post office waiting for her to collect it. She has also sent no emails or updates. During this 3 week period I have head nothing on my son's 2nd birthday and recieved nothing on fathers day. Is this classed as contempt of court on 2 counts? If so what would the likely punishment be?

@Sal - sorry to hear this. Yes, in order to avoid the hefty legal costs you can self-litigate, see link Legal Aid Withdrawal: How to Represent Yourself here. You can also apply for the help of a McKenzie Friend to help you with your case, see link: Using a McKenzie Friend in Court, link here. You will need to make sure your case is well-researched, as a professionally presented case means you are not wasting court time. As your ex is in breach then it is important you take it back to court in order to get the result you need and want. An application for an enforcement order, or for financial compensation, can be made using form C79, which may also be downloaded from the HMCS website. The application may be made to the court which made the contact order or to any court which has the power to deal with family cases. I hope this helps.

The court offered me Contect to my childrenbut my ex said only supervised and that I would have to pay 50 pounds an hour to which I said that I could not afford it, that court kept the option open. After leaving the court I found an organisation who offered me free 6 visits which would have seen me till the next court date but my ex refused the visits.she is in contempt of court but if I were to take her back to court I would have to pay about 200 pounds court fees which I can not afford. Is there any way I can take her to court without it costing me. My case is due to be heard in 2 months time, I have not seen my children since December, please can anyone HELP

@Rick - this is a bit of a tricky situation and one that really can't be advised on because there could be a variety of outcomes to this arrangement. Due to the fact you are married, your wife does have legal rights to your house (even though it may have your name on the deeds, it is theoretically owned by both of you). However, if she wanted to, then yes she could make things difficult. I can only say there is no right or wrong answer to this question, but I would proceed with caution. Can't you just request that you have your sons over more often? Plus, you need to ask yourself; do you really want your wife to move back in? There are a lot of questions to be answered truthfully by yourself here, so I would make sure any decisions you make are made very carefully.

I"ve been separated, and lived separately, from my wife and two young sons for 3 1/2 years now. the marital home, where i still live, is mortgaged solely in my name (long story).. I desperately miss my sons, barely seeing them once a week, and i'm considering both my sons and wife moving back to the house. My Wife and i get on ok-ish but would sleep in separate rooms.. My worry is; me having been convicted for a section 18 offence against both my Wife and a trusty mate of mine, after them becoming real good friends 3 1/2 years ago… Once my Wife and my Sons move back in, could she at any point, use the past situation for her benefit and either change locks or have me removed from, what is on the Deeds, my house? Your advice would be much appreciated.

@Jim - have you seen our site When Your Ex-Partner Denies you Access link here . It gives some advice on exactly what you can do. If you are an ex-husband with parental responsibility and your children don’t live with you, the other parent still needs to keep you updated about their well-being and progress. It sounds like you need to get some legal advice. I hope this helps.

My ex wife has is denying me access to my two daughters, I have no visitation or contact via telephone. She has also moved house and will not give me the new address. Does she have to inform me of their location and also what can I do now? Thanks, Jim.

@Troll saga, if you are still married and her name is still on the mortgage then she is legally allowed to enter the property, with or without you being present, therefore you cannot change the locks.

Hi my ex partner and I have been separated for over 7 years now but still lived in the same house.She moved out two months ago and had stopped paying the mortgage before moving out, I am still living in the house and paying her shortfall in mortgage arrears.I know she is having a key still and recording the law she is still entitled to come in their house but is this legal if she is coming in my absence?I have changed the locks and she is threatening to break in and change the locks.She has little to take from the house as she has already taken most things without consultation. Am I within my rights to not give her a key to come and go as she pleases ???

what are the consequences if a court order is issued and incorporates a limit on a person being entitled to occupy a property and the personfails to vacate once the limit has been reached.

Hi my partner is separated with his wife for over years now. She moved out and him with me and my son are living in their house. I know she is having a key still and recording the law she is still entitled to come in their house but is this legal if she is coming in our absence although im living there too???

My husband has just petitioned me for a divorce on the grounds of seperation, and and on the court form he ticked a box to say our marriage has never been the subject of a court case. In fact I already petitioned him for a divorce and was granted a decree nisi on the grounds of unreasonable behavior in 2009 I did not apply for the decri absolute as Iwas not emotionally strong enough. I hope to get legal advicetomorrow but wondered if you can give any advice? Should I contact the court or apply for the absolute? Thank you Lulu

What will happen if you lied and said your husbanddeserted you and he didn't and you were granted a divorcebecause you wanted out of the marriage because of something he did to you, will that person go to jail?