Family Lawyers and Divorce Specialists in Basingstoke

What a restarted contact case from Basingstoke actually involves

Regular unsupervised contact had built up after the parents separated, with no allegation and no welfare concern standing against it. Contact was then stopped outright after a disagreement about the child’s day-to-day care, and the court had to decide what arrangement now served that child’s welfare. The route is a child arrangements order under Children Act 1989 s.8, with the delay principle in s.1(2) and the presumption of parental involvement in s.1(2A). From Basingstoke, that application is heard by the Family Court at Basingstoke Law Courts, GOV.UK Family Court location code 122.

The child was reunited with the parent whose contact had stopped, and the court went on to make a child arrangements order providing for shared care, with provision allowing each parent to take the child abroad.

Outcomes turn entirely on the facts of each case. Nothing here is a prediction or a promise about any other case.

Where is a Basingstoke family case heard, and what should I sort out before the date?

Basingstoke Law Courts, at The Court House on New Road. GOV.UK gives that one building three location codes and they are not interchangeable: County Court 122, Family Court 122, magistrates’ 1305. So two notices can both say Basingstoke and mean different lists under the same roof. The counter is open by appointment only and the court’s own hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 4.30pm. Two things GOV.UK records about this building are worth knowing before you travel. There are no parking facilities at all, with paid off-site parking about 500 metres away in the Red Lion car park. There is also limited disabled access to the county court counter and no disabled access to the hearing room, with arrangements to be made in advance by telephone. If either affects you, deal with it before the date rather than on the morning.

In Basingstoke, is it the borough or the county I am dealing with?

Both, and they do different jobs. The GOV.UK council finder returns two authorities for this town: Hampshire County Council, responsible for education, social care and transport, and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, responsible for rubbish and recycling, council tax and housing. So a social worker, an assessment or a section 7 report comes from the county, while a housing application after you leave the home goes to the borough. That means two organisations, two reference numbers, and neither holds the other’s file. Be certain which of the two a letter belongs to before you send it.

Questions to put to divorce specialists in Basingstoke about the North Hampshire route

Ask who actually administers the paperwork for this court, because the answer is not the town. GOV.UK routes family enquiries for Basingstoke Law Courts, including C100 applications, to a North Hampshire family address rather than a Basingstoke one, and civil enquiries to a North Hampshire civil address. The building is where you are heard, not where your file is handled. Someone who does family law and nothing else knows that, knows the family list shares code 122 with the county court, and can tell you on the first call which of those routes your application takes. Ask that before you instruct anyone, and ask who you will actually be speaking to afterwards.

How close to New Road do family lawyers in Basingstoke need to be?

Less close than people expect. If you searched for divorce specialists in Basingstoke and found that our nearest office is in Oxford, your case is still listed at Basingstoke Law Courts whoever advises you, and the parts that take the longest — disclosure, statements, negotiation, choosing which application to make — happen nowhere near a court building. Pre-booked face-to-face appointments can be arranged, in Basingstoke or at the Oxford office, so neither is the only way to sit down with someone.

Which four points decide the next three months of a Basingstoke case?

The first two are whether yours is an application or an agreement, and which of Basingstoke’s two councils holds anything about your children. The other two are whether a date at Basingstoke Law Courts is needed at all and, if contact has already stopped, how fast it has to go in front of a judge. That last point matters because Children Act 1989 s.1(2) tells the court to treat delay as likely to prejudice a child’s welfare. Those are the four points people get wrong on their own, and the last one is the expensive one. When you call, you get a family law specialist rather than a switchboard, and one conversation settles all four. The first consultation is free and commits you to nothing. Put those four points to us before you choose family lawyers in Basingstoke. Call 0330 094 5880.