Well guys, it's not looking good. There's no way around it we need a 'Parenting Order'. It must say that I have responsibility for the day to day care of Charlie and that he resides with me permanently in NZ. It has to be signed and witnessed by both parents and solicitors.
The ONLY possible way I can see this happening is to ask Lauren to ask her dad. When we got the Statutory Declaration drawn up in the UK that he had to sign, the one that said he gave his permission for me to take Charlie with me to live in New Zealand, he tried to bribe me. He said he would only sign it if I paid him £5000. Right! Course I will! Arsehole! So, I took Lauren with me to the meeting I had with him at the solicitors office so that she could see the kind of person her father was and he backed down, arguing that he had never said it. He obviously had enough about him that he didn't want to let Lauren see that he was, in effect, trying to sell his stake in her brother.
So, I'm wondering, if she can talk to him he might agree to sign it. I didn't want to get her involved, I don't think it's her responsibility but she has said she is happy to try and she is very mature and sensible for 17 AND she won't lose her temper with him. I would try to annihilate him down the phone.
It's still along job though, even if he agrees to sign it, the solicitor says it should take about 3 months. If not, I have to have court action served on him and that could take a year or more
