What to do before the directions hearing

I have just been issued a letter by my son's father's solicitors that he is seeking contact and prohibition steps order and the Directions hearing is coming up in April. Can anyone pls tell me what this is about and what to do before the date and what the proceedings are.

A contact order is what it sounds like - an order setting out what contact he will have with his child[ren]

A prohibited steps order is an order specifically forbidding you do do something - for example, moving a child to a different school , changing his name.

If you have received the C100 application this should say (Q3) what order your ex wants the court to make, and why.

You are not expected to prepare a statement before the first appointment but you may find it helpful to consider your response to what your ex has said in Qs 3 & 4 of the application.

- If he says that there was a previous agreement about contact, is what he says accurate? If not, make a note for yourself of what you say the agreement / arrangement was.
-If he says that arrangement has broken down, do you agree that what he says about how it broke down is acurate? If not, make a note for yourself as to why it did break down
- Consider what he is asking the court to order. If he is saying he wants an order for contact, consider what he is asking for an be prepared to make your own suggestions about what you feel would be reasonable. - for instance, if he wants to have the childrne from Fri-Mon every weekend, you might not be able to agree to that, but might be offereing Fri-Sun in alternate weeks, for example.
- If he is asking for a prohibited steps order, id the thing he wants you to be forbidden to do, something you were planning to do, or not? If it is, you will need to be able to explain why it is reasonable.
If not, you will be able to explain that you have no intention of changing your child's name / moving to Australia / having them baptised or whatever it is that he is objecting to.

Normally, the first appointment would be an opportunity to meet with a Cafcass reporter at court to see if you can reach an agreement. If you can't, the Judge may at that point direct that you file statements. The Judge may also make orders about what contact the childnre have in the mean time, or may make a temporary prohibited steps order to ensure that things stay as they are until an agreement can be reached, or the court can make a final order.

tks very much for your help. the boy in question is just two years old and both of us has been subjected to some form of domestic violence and have had to be relocated by the police. Moreover, the father has not contributing to the child's upkeep until child support agency enforced these payments.


Hope i can make my reservations known during this meeting?

Yes in your circumstances you can definitely voice your concerns.

Ensure that any formal evidence of assault are documented, copies of police reports, hospital reports etc; If not it may be a case of your word against his.

What has he referenced for the PSO?

Also note that child maintenance will not have a bearing on any contact in the courts, do not use as an additional reason to withold contact.

The two are not connected unless the amount of contact affects the level the NRP pays the PWC.

Indeed i have got pictures of my injuries; now trying to get the services of a solicitor to get copies of my police report since the police will not release a copy to me and my hospital reports are being collated. will this help my course? also, the child in question is not even british, we are africans and would surely love to take my son home on holiday whenever i feel like, i hope this can help me in this prohibition order stuff?