Seeking child/family law advice!

AnonXew

Thanks in advance!

I'll try to be brief, and won't make reference to my child's gender for anonymity.

I'm an unmarried father of a soon to be 16yr old child. Been through the family law courts many years ago to fight for guardianship, access and voluntarily entered into a maintenance agreement. My child has mentioned several times throughout their life that they would prefer to live with me, and over the past few weeks the reasons why have became incredibly clear to me, having witnessed the vitriol directed towards them from the mother through phone calls and text messages, and I'm told that things are much worse behind closed doors. The mother was never the most stable person, but things have become much worse in the years since we were together, and my child has taken the brunt of it.

It's come to the stage where my child has dodged going home for a couple of weeks, and continues to refuse to go when their mother makes contact. I'm not going to make them leave. The mother hasn't been a bit happy about this, and has ramped up the vitriol because of it, but she hasn't been told of my child's long-term wishes as of yet, something fun to look forward to

My primary concern is this - given that my child is almost 16, and 16 year old's have the legal right to leave home with parental consent, does this mean I - as a guardian and parent - can give my consent for them to leave the mothers home and move to mine? Or do they need the consent of both parents in such instances? And what legal consequences might I be facing for not sticking to a court order from when they were an infant?

My secondary concern - I can't afford to provide for everything the child needs while still paying maintenance to the mother, not long-term. I've heard of a quick court process that can change the maintenance amount, a 'maintenance variance order'? Is this something the maintenance payer can initiate and get reduced to zero? Would it require a court appearance, and how long might it take to complete?

I realise that in all likelihood I'll have to get a solicitor on the case again, but any personal experience stories etc you may have would be very much appreciated.

nuac

Mod
Sorry to read of your difficulties. You will have to talk to your solicitor on this. This forum does not offer legal advice.
Subject to that leaving open for general discussion