My son and his ex wife reached agreement...

Asked by the Customer on 06-12-2015 13:35:12
Question posted in the Family Law category relating to Gauteng

My son and his ex wife reached agreement on the dates of his 7 year old daughters visit during December as per the High Court ruling. The ex wife paid the amount equal to the daughters airfare into my son's account and the flights were book and paid for by my son. The ex wife agreed to pay for the airfare as she has not contributed to any of my son' recent visitation expences as a result of her move to Durban.
As a result of being heavily sedated following a major tooh extraction, my son missed a scheduled Skype call to his daughter a few days after the flight were paid for.
Based on this the ex wife has now cancelled the visit and is demanding a full refund of her money regardless of the cost of canceling the flight
My son is unable to get her to change her mind and he and I have tried contacting her family to resolve the issue. We are now being threatened with harassment orders.

This has been an ongoing senario over the past 6 years with the wife canceling visit at the last minute whenever she pleases. Our family has collectively exhausted our finances following 6 years of legal fees. The ex wife moved from Johannesburg to Durban about 18 months ago resulting in the legal battle now having to be fought in the Natal courts at even greater expence.

Message from the Attorney

Posted by Att. Patrick on 06-12-2015 14:09:24
Hi there and thank you for your question,

In my opinion the parties should agree on a mediator being appointed, or a facilitator who will have certain decision making powers. In that way, all of the decisions relating to the child can be referred to the facilitator if the parties can't agree on a decision. This would include a decision to cancel a trip to Joburg. The facilitor could be approached urgently, and could make a decision within an hour. In that way the parties would not need to run off to court for a judge to deciide.

That might very well be something that your son should consider.

Otherwise, the only advice that I can give is that your son must approach court (again...) for an order requiring his ex-wife to agree to the trip - especially since it has previously been planned.

Is there a more specific question that I can assist you with?

If there is a part of the answer which you need more advice on, or clarity please continue in this same thread instead of opening a new question.

Att. Patrick

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Answer Accepted

This answer was accepted on 06-12-2015 14:35:14
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