The Law and Single Mothers

Hi, I am a single Mum. My children are 9,7 & 5. I am currently looking for work & am on JSA. I tried getting Child Maintenance even though it's a measly £20 a month but no one could 'find him on any system', therefore nothing could be done about it. I cant do without a car as everything is far. School, Doctors, Dentists, etc. I live in a Council Property & moving to a private rented property to be near the facilities scares me, especially with the way the climate is right now! I am finding it impossible to make ends meet. I am furious at the system! I find it highly unfair. I have always let the kids dad see them. He takes them every weekend and in the holidays he takes them on a Friday and brings them Sunday evening. I pay for everything including the children's tuition fees and after school activity clubs. Finding work to suit around my children is next to impossible & financially I feel crippled.

HI, I am a single mother of 2 who are under the age of 5. They have been through too much emotional and physical damage during the past 2 years due to the seperation of myself and their father. He has been physically violent towards me and verbally avbusive towards me infront of the kids. They're very traumatised, also their behaviour has regressed since this situation has started. The paternal family dispute all of this infront of a social worker who has now placed the children on the CPS register and are holding a conference this week wednesday. Could I recieve some legal advice regarding this situation??

Am pregnant of a guy who doesn't want anything to do with my baby or I anymore that's after realizing I was pregnant, I want to know if I have a right to make this legal so that he never demands for the kid after some years

My son is 2 his dad was in and out of his life for the first year, but he has been having contact with his dad 1 full day a week for about 6months now the problem I have is my son hates going with his dad he doesnt show that he knows hes his dad either but hes had a lot of contact that any child would be used to by now and if he enjoyed going he would go with no trouble at all, the older hes getting the more he kicks off when his dad comes for him and he screams and clings to my legs hes now at the point where he hates his dad even touching him and throws himself on the floor, what are my rights to stop him from taking his son but still have contact in his own environment/house until hes old enough to make up his mind if he wants to go with his dad or not surely you cant force a child to do something they dont want to no matter what age?

My ex and I sperated 8 years ago we have a son who has now started at university, the ex was paying the mortgage I paid all other house hold bills, and as he was paying mortgage I agreed not to claim csa. now he says he wont pay as son is at uni and is being nasty telling me to rent out the house to someone else or sell. can you please tell me, I thought he still had to pay mortgage while son is at university getting his degree. thank you

My ex partner and I seperated 8 years ago, we have a son who has now started university. my ex and I agreed that he would pay mortgage and I wouldnt claim csa. now our son has started university he is now forcing me to either rent out the house or sell it, and being nasty with it,, I thought while our son was at uni getting his degree he still had to pay mortgage. is this correct can you please help thank you

I am needing some advice. I am currently living in France with my 3 daughters. After seperating from my ex I found I was pregnant. I desperately want to move back to the UK and wonder if my ex has the right to stop me as we are not married yet he knows I am pregnant?Help please#

im wanting to know if i can automtically get my childs name changed to mine since the father has not had anything to do with them for 7.5 years of their life maybe a phone call here and there every two years tho and he has been in and out of jail also and been to prison and my record is clean so how do i go about this

Hi, I have recently split up with the six month old child's father who has become emotionally abuse towards me. he has threatened me he will take my child off me when I have been the child's sole carer for 4 months of her life as he is in the armed forces and away for long periods of time. He is very controlling and I cannot be without my daughter. I would like to know specifically what my legal rights are. He is named on her birth certificate but said he would like to be taken off it (confusing behavior) and I have written a log of remarks he has made to me including time and date which most of it shows lack of responsibility, aggression and compulsiveness. I wish to know if I could move without his consent, get her a passport, or can he relinquish his parental responsibility? Many thanks.

i have recently separated from my partner with whom we have a 9 month old baby.He has two sons from a previous marriage and an interferring ex wife. I need advice on what maintenance he will have to pay and is the amount reduced because of the sons?Also he has put the house up for sale which is in his name so basically making myself and our child homeless in a few weeks is he allowed to effectively make his own child homeless?any help or advice appreciated

Me and my partner have recently separated due to his interfering ex .. However he wants to be part of our daughters life who is 4months .. I don't have a problem with him seeing her but he usually takes my daughter to see his ex and her family .. He insists they are only 'good friends' but I don't want my daughter seeing them .. Is there anything I can do? We are not married but his name is on birth certificate.

I'm 18, my dad left when I was 11, when my mum first asked about child support they told us it wasn't around any more, when I reached 16 we got a phone calls saying that he in fact owned us money but they wouldn't back date it so my older brother who was 18 at the time, and my sister, 17 didn't get a single penny when the forms were filled out, He made one payment for £62, and then didn't pay for almost 2 years, we recently got a months worth, £448 that was shared between me and my little brother, the second payment we got, but now the child support has said we're getting paid weekly at £72 a week, £36 for each of us, because he got his friends who owns the flat his living in to tell the child support people that his rent was abnormally higher than it actually is, and is now going around bragging how he has done so, his meant to be living in that flat by himself, but i know for a fact his living with another woman and is pretending not too so they don't have to pay more for their house because she doesn't work. Not only has he stripped a male figure out of my whole family's relationship; stolen, conned and betrayed his family, but he then carried on to commit fraud several times so he can have more, and we can have less. So now I want you to help me... what should I do?

I have 2 girls to my ex we was married the relationship ended when my girls was 2 & 6months he was a hopeless father never grew up and was never there for my girls and did violent behavier near my 2 year old,l first gave him access to my girls on returning the girls back he would strip all the clothes of them in the garden at winter of clothes they got and give me the girls back in just knickers,he then stoped turning up for the girls, he applied to court and got 5,000 from my compensation money between all that we had a place in Spain were my dad lived we had to get a mirage in joint names l put all the funds into the property he wanted to take all that but lost there has been no support nothing has a father to my girls it's been over 5& years and he wants contact now my girls are now 7&9 l have told them everything they was crying there eyes out how dare he come now and l want nothing to do with him l hate him and mike my partner from after the split has been there daddy and paid for everything for my girls and all they want is mike what are my rights if my girls feel like this and l dont think my girls are safe near him or his crazy family please help me

I have 2 girls to my ex we was married the relationship ended when my girls was 2 & 6months he was a hopeless father never grew up and was never there for my girls and did violent behavier near my 2 year old,l first gave him access to my girls on returning the girls back he would strip all the clothes of them in the garden at winter of clothes they got and give me the girls back in just knickers,he then stoped turning up for the girls, he applied to court and got 5,000 from my compensation money between all that we had a place in Spain were my dad lived we had to get a mirage in joint names l put all the funds into the property he wanted to take all that but lost there has been no support nothing has a father to my girls it's been over 5& years and he wants contact now my girls are now 7&9 l have told them everything they was crying there eyes out how dare he come now and l want nothing to do with him l hate him and mike my partner from after the split has been there daddy and paid for everything for my girls and all they want is mike what are my rights if my girls feel like this and l dont think my girls are safe near him or his crazy family please help me

Hi, im desperate for some advice please. I have a 14 year old daughter who i have brought up by myself for 13 years with some input from her father. Three years ago we went to court as i had stopped contact for a year because he kept letting her down, failing to turn up at school on his day, palming her off onto other people when he should of been spending time with her, putting his business before her ect since she was born this has been the same pattern. Last year my daughter decided to run away to go and live with her dad. I went to the police station to ask for help in getting her back as i was given full custody of her in court and he was given P.R. The police told me that they couldnt do anything because of her age and because there wasnt a power of arrest with the custody document. For the past year i have begged him to bring her back and begged her to come home but to no avail. Dad has an endless pot of money as he has his own successful business and along side the money she also does seem to get alot of freedom while living with him. I feel these are the reasons why she wont come home and when i have asked her why she doesnt want to be with me she just says "i just want to be with my dad". I went to a solicitor who told me that there wouldnt be any point going back to court because of her age a judge wouldnt make her come back to me. Obviously im devastated and this past year has been very hard, i love my daughter and want her back home with me and her younger brother. I hardly see my daughter as she doesnt really want to see me or her younger brother as she says she is too busy. When i do see her its always on her terms and if i try to chastise her she tells me that she hates me and doesnt want to see me and her dad supports her instead of telling her to have contact with us, and so im having to keep my mouth shut about alot of things just so i can see her. i feel so powerless and my heart is broke as i have done all the hard work in bringing her up and now i only see her when she wants, probably once every three months. My ex partner who i was with for three years but i never married goes abroad often. I have asked him to inform me when my daughter leaves the country. He hasnt responded to my txts or messages that i have sent him to ask this of him. Recently my daughters passport has ran out and she wants a new one so they asked me to sign the form which i refused unless he keeps me informed as to when she will be leaving the country. Again he wouldnt reply so i sent him a txt to say that i wouldnt sign the form until he would agree to do this. This evening my daughter has sent me a txt to say "hi im in Paris did i tell you" I live in England, United Kingdom. So where do i stand as i thought he couldnt get a passport without my say so, without my signature? its so unfair that i do not have a say in my daughters life anymore and i just do not know what to do next. I should at least have a say as to whether she leaves the country or not?

"I'm not with the father of my son anymore and have met someone else, i want to move from my home town to 34.2 miles away. what are my rights? thank you."

I am working and living in Thailand and have a 3 years old son from my British partner. We are not married but his name is on my child's birthcertificate. We've been together for 6 years now. My child is a british national and has a british passport. This is his 2nd child as he has an 8 years year boy left in UK with his mother that doesn't get any child support. He threaten me that if I leave he will not give any support for his child. Can I make claim through CSA without him knowing? How can I apply for child support when we are both living in Thailand? He doesn't have work but have big savings in the bank. Help! any information will help me so much. Thnks!

hi i have recently split from my partner and he has the sole name on the mortgage, we have a 16month old child together do i have any rights to live there and can he kick us out when ever he wants or can we live there and he has to pay the mortgage. we are not married.

"A mother has parental responsibility for her child and is generally expected to become the parent with care, in the event of a separation or divorce." Expected by whom? This article immediately begins with an unsourced, biased, sexist assumption, and therefore lacks all credibility.

"A mother has parental responsibility for her child and is generally expected to become the parent with care, in the event of a separation or divorce." Expected by whom? This article begins with an unsourced, biased, sexist assumption, and therefore lacks all credibility.

I have been separated from my 2 childrens father for 7 years.it has always been difficult getting regular maintenence from him but i have neverstopped him seeing the kids,until now.without warning he cancelled the standing order we had 3 months ago claiming he had no money and was not working.the reason i have stopped his access is i found out he has been on holiday twice since april,2 weeks in thailand and more recently a week in spain.in 7 years he has never taken the kids on a day out let alone a holiday and he is still not giving anything towards the kids I have contacted the csa and will let them get the money off him.he has threatened to take me to court to get to see the kids but i dont believe he will because hine will have to pay costs.

I am a father with a son living with me.The mother left,I felt for a long time that her maternal in-stinks were not as strong as they should of been .We are both English living in Spain.Our son is 3 we and our son have lived in our house we are in all his life.He was born in Spain. My name is on the birth certificate . He is at school,has friends and a stable home. At the moment i am unemployed.The mother is working. She was seeing himtwice a week. She changed the dates of seeing him a couple of days ago. She has taken his passport and birth citificate. She was asked to leave here rented property. I do not now where she is living now. I have on my answer machine a message left accident by the mother talking to her friends ,saying she was going to pack here stuff and go with our son. She now wants to have him for over 2 nights .Which is in my eyes enough time to flee the country. Please where do i stand

I have a 4yrs old daughter and me and her father have been seperated for 2 years because he couldnt keep it in his trousers and amongst other things he has done.he has been hassling me all this time for me to take him back but I have refused every time.He sees our daughter an hour during the week and on a weekend she stays over at his mams on a saturday night.He has just informed me he has got a girl pregnant and is moving in with her but he also wants my daughter to meet her and stay overnight. I do not know this woman and by the sounds of it neither does he.Do I have to allow this to happen, I do not want to stop him from seeing his daughter but I dont want her staying at another womans house whom I or my daughter doesnt know.I have told him if he is still with her in about 5 month we can talk about this, but I really dont want her staying there overnight what can I do please.

I have a 4 month old son in which i had a very brief relationship with his dad, his name is on the birth certificate, but since my son was a month old he has become abusive and violent and wont leave me alone.He has now been charged with assault on me.He says he as a legal right to see his son whenever he wants and says if he goes to prison i will have to take my son to see him. We never lived to together and was only together for about a month he also does not work and refuses to pay anything at all towards his up keep. Please can you help what access rights does he have. Can i make the discission if and when he can see the my son, totally confused with all this and making me depressed.

Hi Im Jordan and im from south africa, I have a beautiful 2 month old baby girl. I had a short relationship with her father he is from the UK and he has not wanted anything to do with her since I was pregnant. I am now married to a canadian and living in canada but the marrage hasnt gone well so we are splitting up.Can I claim finantial maintenance for child support from the biological father to help raise my girl??

Hi i have a 16month old child and me and is father split hes taking me to court to get a agreement that he has him everyother weekend and i want him to have him every weekend where do i stand and will the courts agree with me?? Please help me i dont no what to do for the best many thanks kate x

I am a 27 year old mom of two girls whom are fathered by the same person. We had a bad break up and seldom communicate. In my last conversations I told him that I intend on filing for child maintenance and he moved and replied that I can go ahead, he is unemployed. I have been looking after our oldest for a while, but now I'm also unemployed. I don't remember the last time he did anything for my girls. He has expensive clothes, jewellery and appliances but says he can't pay. What can I do for my girls? Is he liable for maintenance even if he is not working? I desperately need help and advice.

I've been separated from my ex for over 3years now. My son is 3.5yrs old now, his dad now pays maintenance (nothing in writing) but whenever he needs to buy anything for him he says that it needs to come out of the money he gives me. I just need to know if this is true & if you can recommend how I can explain this to him as I am villainised as being the bad guy (I have a full time job & receive no government help!). Thanks

Hey advice please, I have a beautiful baby girl who is soon to be six months.. Now I'm a single parent of this happy little person, however her other half of the DNA has threatened me with court and such, he is not on the birth certificate and we are meeting up for mediation this week, Him and I had a very short physical relationship that ended because he became very obsessed and klingy. Then i realised I was pregnant,. I work and provide for my little charmer, however he is barely living and does not see what's wrong with me not wanting her to meet his family due to them using and growing drugs and being heavy drinkers. Even he said he understood that but now has changed his mind.I do not want him to see her at all but his sister is harassing me via emails and letters. I'm afraid he will come to my work and his family as well. Ad he knows where we live. He's even said in a email it was not about her it was about me. Any advice please? X

Hiim jhe ho been in singapore last 2009 visit my baby father then i got pregnant and gave birth to philippines in year 2010 then after a month of gaving birth i come back again to singapore to visit his father and fill him up the form and sign in my baby birthcertificate and try to seek an employment but i failed to got approved the pass then go back then the father of my child ask me again to comeback and try to get employment pass but unfortunately i got rejected again last year then i need to go back. now i have a one year old child who has a father in singapore an indian man working in a good company that stop communicating to us just recently because he is planning to get married to other woman whom his parents wants for him im begging for help for being unemployed here in philippines with my baby while his father in singapore only thinks his reputation and own needs we talk about the agreement before about supporting and etc. I tot we are ok already and planning to go back in singapore for trying again to have pass but the last time ive been in sg was last nov. 2011 which is my pass got rejected so he ask me to go back first then just go back in sg if i could have confirm pass alreadybut suddenly he change he fight, shout nd talking so bad on phone he always find reasons to leave always makes us feel more pain and made us cryuntil now and not communicate with us and sometimes blaming me why i cant get the pass etc. Then just recently also ive found out he will get married soon which makes me more hurt and the pain that keeps growing until now was so much hurting thinking he can do like this i gave all the trust and love to him keep on believing him and all my world sorrounds to him follow whatever he wants and being a slave now until now i feel the pain so deep he told me next month we can come there with my baby and try the dependent pass but im calling him asking help because he didnt even say anything he just not answering my calls or sms he didnt even tell me to prepare now i dont know what should i gonna do to my baby how i can raise him alone i keep on believing on him and following him as i thought everything was ok he just left us of suffering more here he didnt even tell anything now i want to ask help for him to contact him for child abandonment and support i dont know how i can get over the pains now that seeing my baby with nothing is more crashing on me on pain i want to ask help for sending him a letter of agreement for us to overcome of what was happend im begging for help please i need help sometimes my mind so blank which is i dont know where to get of his needs i dont know why he is so mean and dont know how to fulfill promises for his child which is still so little im seeking work but its so very hard now of being alone how will my baby now i always try to get pass in sg i dont know why he always blame me for not getting the pass now without of anything i dont know what should do now for a living please kindly help