Court Action for Child Contact

In the following example a client is seeking advice about how to obtain regular contact with their child.  Until recently contact has taken place every second weekend. However, the client wants to see their child more frequently.  Communication  with the child’s other parent has completely broken down and it has not been possible to reach agreement on the matter.   The client is now not seeing their child at all. They want to resume having regular contact with their child as soon as possible.

A Court Writ is drafted, lodged in Court and served on the other parent. A Child Welfare Hearing is fixed, and both parties must appear personally at that hearing. At the hearing, both solicitors make lengthy statements about what their client wants to happen. They also both produce various documents to support their client’s request, such as school reports, and a letter from the Child’s Doctor.  The Sheriff then makes a decision that some contact will take place between the client and their  child , and continues the case for a period of three months to monitor how the contact  is working out.  Both parties have to come back to court in three months’ time.

Based on the scenario above we would estimate our fee to be in the region of between £2000-£3000 plus VAT and outlays. Outlays may include fees paid to the Court, fees paid to Sheriff Officers for serving the Court writ on the other parent, and the cost of obtaining a copy of the Child’s Birth Certificate.

The indicative pricing above  assumes that there are no complicating factors and is only meant as a rough guide. The estimate is subject to change based on the individual circumstances of the particular client.