I'm concerned about my case as it's a little unusual so I would really appreciate some feedback! Here's my background:
I am Irish with Canadian Permanent Residency as is my 11 year old child. I am married to a Canadian Citizen and have a further 2 children with him. The father of my 11 year old is British and resides overseas. We were never married and separated before the birth of my child. He did not have any parental rights or responsibilities towards my child and never applied to the courts for these. The reason for our separation was due to his aggression when drinking and his inability to contribute financially. We never lived together. He does not pay child support (he did pay for 2 years out of 11) and he has 2 previous convictions for minor offences. At the time of living in Ireland there was a verbal agreement for access. Although my child did see her father, he would regularly state he could not see her as a result of his busy social life. This eventually led to my child growing apart from him. He has told my child on numerous occasions that he didn't want anything to do with her.
My child informed me of certain things that were going on whilst in her fathers care such as him hitting her and displaying aggression in front of her. It was at this point I spoke with him and he admitted these things but shrugged them off. As a result, I moved to Canada. I sought legal advice and was given a legal document stating I had rights to immigrate. I informed my ex of my plans to relocate and spoke with him briefly after we moved. I have not currently spoken with him in 3 years.
He has since filed papers with the court citing he wants the child returned to Ireland, that he wants full custody and that I abducted her. The OCL have been involved (clinical investigator and lawyer), we have had a disclosure and there is now a settlement conference scheduled. I have heard through the grapevine that he is only pushing things as he is in receipt of legal aid. (He earns over $35k so no idea how he wangled legal aid!) We are being crippled financially. The OCL disclosure was somewhat sketchy... (He attended via telephone) They stated that the relationship between father and child was severed long before we moved to Canada and they didn't think it was necessary for him to spend $'s visiting a child that didn't want to see him. They noted that the child refused to go with him during the observation visits and stated that the child was mature for her years. The OCL lawyer however was sticking up for him and recommending joint custody to him which threw me. There was no actual recommendation though. There are quite a few concerns over their overall conduct of this matter but I won't go into them as my lawyer states that overall the disclosure couldn't have gone any better.
I now have another meeting scheduled with the OCL and I'm not quite sure what this is for. Any ideas?
We have had numerous letters from my ex's lawyer asking for things and we have agreed on some (such as telephone contact) but they have then came back and said they now don't want it. All this does is cost us money for nothing in responding.
Anyway, I guess what I am asking is what exactly do you think will happen at the settlement hearing? Does anyone have any idea how much a full trial will cost and whether he will get joint custody? I have read that judges are keen to give out joint custody but given our history and the fact he doesn't even live in the country would this be appropriate? There is no actual solid evidence that would benefit a trial other than his family saying a few years ago he has access. He wasn't involved in extra curricular activities, schooling, medical or dental appointments. He also refused to pay child support at the case conference and the judge told him it was a bad move. He owns a rental property, lives with his partner and they both have a full time wage and no other dependants. Yet he is on legal aid? I have no clue why. I am aware that he has painted a bad picture of me, which is what worries me. However, I have never been in trouble with the police, have always supported my child financially and have no crazy medical problems.
Any advice would be welcomed
I am Irish with Canadian Permanent Residency as is my 11 year old child. I am married to a Canadian Citizen and have a further 2 children with him. The father of my 11 year old is British and resides overseas. We were never married and separated before the birth of my child. He did not have any parental rights or responsibilities towards my child and never applied to the courts for these. The reason for our separation was due to his aggression when drinking and his inability to contribute financially. We never lived together. He does not pay child support (he did pay for 2 years out of 11) and he has 2 previous convictions for minor offences. At the time of living in Ireland there was a verbal agreement for access. Although my child did see her father, he would regularly state he could not see her as a result of his busy social life. This eventually led to my child growing apart from him. He has told my child on numerous occasions that he didn't want anything to do with her.
My child informed me of certain things that were going on whilst in her fathers care such as him hitting her and displaying aggression in front of her. It was at this point I spoke with him and he admitted these things but shrugged them off. As a result, I moved to Canada. I sought legal advice and was given a legal document stating I had rights to immigrate. I informed my ex of my plans to relocate and spoke with him briefly after we moved. I have not currently spoken with him in 3 years.
He has since filed papers with the court citing he wants the child returned to Ireland, that he wants full custody and that I abducted her. The OCL have been involved (clinical investigator and lawyer), we have had a disclosure and there is now a settlement conference scheduled. I have heard through the grapevine that he is only pushing things as he is in receipt of legal aid. (He earns over $35k so no idea how he wangled legal aid!) We are being crippled financially. The OCL disclosure was somewhat sketchy... (He attended via telephone) They stated that the relationship between father and child was severed long before we moved to Canada and they didn't think it was necessary for him to spend $'s visiting a child that didn't want to see him. They noted that the child refused to go with him during the observation visits and stated that the child was mature for her years. The OCL lawyer however was sticking up for him and recommending joint custody to him which threw me. There was no actual recommendation though. There are quite a few concerns over their overall conduct of this matter but I won't go into them as my lawyer states that overall the disclosure couldn't have gone any better.
I now have another meeting scheduled with the OCL and I'm not quite sure what this is for. Any ideas?
We have had numerous letters from my ex's lawyer asking for things and we have agreed on some (such as telephone contact) but they have then came back and said they now don't want it. All this does is cost us money for nothing in responding.
Anyway, I guess what I am asking is what exactly do you think will happen at the settlement hearing? Does anyone have any idea how much a full trial will cost and whether he will get joint custody? I have read that judges are keen to give out joint custody but given our history and the fact he doesn't even live in the country would this be appropriate? There is no actual solid evidence that would benefit a trial other than his family saying a few years ago he has access. He wasn't involved in extra curricular activities, schooling, medical or dental appointments. He also refused to pay child support at the case conference and the judge told him it was a bad move. He owns a rental property, lives with his partner and they both have a full time wage and no other dependants. Yet he is on legal aid? I have no clue why. I am aware that he has painted a bad picture of me, which is what worries me. However, I have never been in trouble with the police, have always supported my child financially and have no crazy medical problems.
Any advice would be welcomed
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