Court order breeched - urgent advice needed

Hi all, went to pick up my son for contact this morning (court ordered) and ex was not at the house.

I had a look in the windows to see if anyone was in there but the house appears to have been almost completely emptied. The curtains are drawn in the living room but I could see through the kitchen window without trespassing. There is nothing at all in there other than a bottle of washing up liquid and a tea towel.

There is a prohibited steps order in place that she may not move my son''s home.

As far as I can see she has breeched the contact part of the order and the PSO.

What is my next step? I''ve phoned her a couple of times, left a voicemail but she hasn''t answered.

Do I go to the court now? There is a Directions hearing on Tuesday but don''t want to wait and ignore this if that''s the wrong move.

It sounds as though your ex has done a midnight flit. If this is the case it is possible to apply to the court now but this will mean going to court, applying for urgent Directions such as for a power of arrest to be attached to the existing directions and and personally serving the order on your ex. Personal service might be difficult if you don''t know where she has gone to.

If you choose to wait until Tuesday, it is worthwhile writing to the court today, marking your letter/fax "urgent: for hearing on Tuesday 11th September" explaining the current position, the breaches of the order and your suspicion that your ex has left the property without leaving an alternative address.

The judge has the power to make orders for discovery of your ex''s address, particularly through the benefits agency.

Charles

Thanks Charles

I have just received an email from her solicitor saying that she is very ill and given that the collection time has lapsed that contact cannot take place. She has apparently been ordered to take bed rest.

Contact should have begun at 10.00 so it''s almost 2 hours late.

She is not present in the house where the PSO applies to. It is my suspicion that she has been living in her new house for the week and returning my son to my area for contact. This is clearly not what the PSO was meant for. It seems that now she is suddenly ill she cannot bring him back for contact which I guess shows that she is living elsewhere.

I do know her new address so personal service could be effected, though my ex does not know that I have this information.

If she just says that she''s ill does that change the circumstances?

Spoke to a solicitor who has advised the court that the hearing on Tuesday may now include enforcement issues (regarding the PSO, now I suppose not the contact).

I had already booked a barrister for the hearing as there is no one who can go with me from my family. So far every Directions hearing has gone over 4 hours in negotiations so a flat fee for a barrister is probably better than paying a solicitor. I am concerned that she will not turn up due to this illness and that the money that was paid to the barrister will be forfeited. Anyone know what happens when a hearing is adjourned?

Solicitor said that it was not worth applying to the court for an emergency order because nothing would get actioned for 48 hours which takes us to Tuesday anyway.

I wrote back to her solicitor demanding an explanation about why I wasn''t notified until after the fact. I also wanted to know that my son was safe and well (because the ex threatened to kill my son at the last hearing when she got bad news and she got some more bad news yesterday so very concerned for his safety). I said that I could still pick him up and asked where he is.

No response so far.

The solicitor I spoke to said that it was not down to me to prove that she had moved house, but rather it was up to my ex to prove that she hadn''t. This sounded backwards to me though, guilty until proven innocent kind of approach. Anyone have any comments?