need advice please

audman

I Received a letter this mornin from my ex partners solicitor sayin my ex is applying for guardianship under section 6 a.We were never married.Im surprised by this as the children are in there mid to late teens and have no relationship with him due to his problems with alcohol over the years.Anyways im supposed to be in court in less than two weeks and what i want to know is what's the chances of him gettin guardianship. . do i need to have a solicitor represent me and also Im. not in a position to afford one and would probably be lookin to apply for free legal aid which i cant really see bein sorted and approved for by the time the case is due before court.So what do i do. . If i don't show up because i can't before a solicitor it looks bad and i don't want to be in court without some one to represent me.I feel like I've been given such short notice for this.I might also add. that my teenager s want nothin to do with their dad at the moment and he contributes nothin at all financially towards their up bringing.please advise

123jimmy

Go to court and tell the judge you wish to be represented and will need to apply for free legal aid. The judge will adjourn the case to give you time to apply for legal aid.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Guardianship isn't really a big deal and doesn't really change much, you can't emigrate without the premission of the court(or your ex) and your ex will be able to give premission for the kids to see medical professionals while in his care. Other than that nothing changes.

Guardianship has nothing to do with mantainence or custody and the court will most likely grant guardianship straight away without any fuss.

krd

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Guardianship isn't really a big deal and doesn't really change much, you can't emigrate without the premission of the court(or your ex) and your ex will be able to give premission for the kids to see medical professionals while in his care. Other than that nothing changes.

Guardianship has nothing to do with mantainence or custody and the court will most likely grant guardianship straight away without any fuss.

Does guardianship give any rights to the guardian to make a claim on the assets of the other parent?

I wouldn't think so - but does it?

Peregrinus

krd wrote: »

Does guardianship give any rights to the guardian to make a claim on the assets of the other parent?

I wouldn't think so - but does it?

No, it doesn't.

confused08

I've recently been through a similar battle , if you contact your local free legal aid board they can provide you with a letter for the courts which will state that you are on a waiting list and the case will be adjourned . In my own case my childs father was granted no guardianship or access as it was proven that it was not in the best interests of the child . My child had a very poor relationship with his father and wanted no contact with his father because of his fathers actions and treatment of him , once the child is old enough the court will take their opions into account. From what i hear judges rulings vary greatly on this issue , perhaps i was lucky and got a sympathetic judge . It was a long battle in courts mainly due to to the fact the my sons father refused to admit any wrong doing and constantly told lies , my solicitor told me that if he had turned up to court and admitted his failings and told the court that he was sorry for his past actions and was prepared to do what ever it took to be in his sons life and be a half deacent parent then he probably would have been given a chance . These cases are very tough because either way the child always loses out and there needs to be a lot of reform , judges are giving guardianship as a means to enforce maintainance and because the father has a legal right to have parental control over their own child , often the voice of the child is never heard.