Can anyone tell me what happens to peolple who disobey court orders regardong child contact?
What is the scenario? When a couple separates & need to use a court to settle child custody & child contact / visitation, many factors dictate the outcome. But assuming both parents are stable & responsible, the Mother gets the child & the father could get a few days every fortnight. If the Father disobeys the court either by trying to see the child outside the legal contact order, or by failing to turn up during the contact period, the Mother can ask the court to suspend all rights for the Father. If the Mother disobeys the court and refuses to let the father see his child or simply moves away & vanishes, then the Father can apply to the court to intervene. The Mother will be summoned & asked to defend her failure to meet a legal requirement. Unless she can prove the Father is unfit (uses drugs, drinks too much etc.), she will be told off and told that it’s in the child’s interest to maintain a relationship with the father. The Mother would get a warning, a probable fine & that’s it.
