Coke daddy
Question
I'm separated from my husband. If it's proven that he's been taking cocaine, can I stop our children going round to see him?
Answer
It's easy to understand why you don't want the children to have contact with a known drug user. Whether you can stop the contact depends on whether there are any court orders in place requiring the children to have contact with their father.
If there is a court order in place, you need to be careful about refusing contact as you could be charged with being in contempt of court. If there are no court orders in place then you could refuse contact. It would then be up to him to apply for a contact order to make you allow the children to visit.
You could oppose this on the grounds of the drug taking. Even though the courts work on the presumption that a child should be in contact with both parents, they can stipulate that the children only have supervised contact.
For more information you can contact Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS), an organisation that supports families and children with issues of this kind.
Updated: 22/01/2009
Question answered by CAB
