Self rep in child court?

Is it possible to self rep in child court?
Divorce was sorted through self rep since ex agreed to it and lived abroad.

He has now decided he wants contact and has got a solicitor through legal aid. I am not, and never have, denied contact with the kids but up until now, it has been very limited (once a year is all he wanted). He has now demanded far more contact but refuses to speak to me or reply to emails. This makes it a little difficult to organise any kind of contact at all.

Do I just wait till he takes me to court, then agree to the contact? He moved to the opposite end of the country and expects to pick the kids up after school on Fridays and drive them back to his new home. It will take him 7 hours to drive up, then do the return trip, to arrive back at 11pm presuming they don't hit any rush hour traffic (Friday tea time). I do not consider this a reasonable request and would hope a judge wouldn't. His solicitor says the journey will take 2 hours (maybe in a helicopter).

If he starts court proceedings, will I have to go there to attend? I am still paying off the debts and can't afford to take time off work - I wouldn't want to do the return journey in one day.

You can self rep, you could also ensure your childrens best interests are met by them having their own solicitor. Try the NYAS

I believe contact hearings are heard at court nearest to where children reside.

Children cases usually boil down to common sense and parenting issues. There isn't a lot of law involved so it is feasible to represent yourself, although you can take a layperson with you for moral support.

Children cases are heard in the court local to where the children live and it is your interest to go to put across your case. At the first hearing it is usual to meet a CAFCASS officer first to see if agreement can be reached before seeing the judge. If no agreement can be reached the judge will direct what information he/she requires to assist in making a decision and sets a timetable. I don't think you shouldn't see the court as hostile, the aim is to sort out arrangements for the benefit of children.

The presumption is when children live with one parent they should know and see the other parent but when the distance is too great for regular contact to be workable it would be more usual for contact to be less frequent for longer periods. You could draft a reasonable proposal to gradually increase contact for longer periods to take along to court.

I don't quite follow this. You say he is refusing to speak to you, but he has proposed a scheme of contact and you have rejected it (possibly for good reasons) and that presumably is why he has decided to go to court. Have you proposed an alternative scheme?

It would, obviously, be better for both or you if you could come to some sort of compromise.

In answer to the questions, certainly you can represent yourself and many parents are forced to. As long as you are well prepared and know what to expect you should be ok. Be aware, however, that the process can be extraordinarily slow and frustrating. Yes, you must attend court. If you don't the court will consider that you have little respect for it (and if you continue to refuse to attend you can be held in contempt) and that you don't care about the outcome for your children; it will then make an order in your absence with which you may well disagree.

Thanks for the replies.

He sent an email with his request for monthly weekend visits together with all school holidays. I replied saying split the holidays half and half and that monthly contact will not work due to distance, but he could travel and see the kids without any problem. He did not reply but took my email to a solicitor who has acknowledged that I am not denying contact at all. He will not speak on the phone with me and has now stopped the email contact.

I presumed that whoever starts court proceedings gets it heard where they reside, so that I would have to travel. I was not saying I would not go, but it may well turn out that I couldn't afford the travelling expenses.

If the solicitor has been in contact with you or you have the solicitor's address there is no reason why you can't send a proposal and negotiate through the solicitor. For example you might suggest long weekends or week stays every six weeks or so during half terms and holidays with perhaps Dad traveling to see the children in between.