Family Court dispute leaves mum and kids ‘homeless’

A mother says a Family Court battle with her ex-partner has left her and her three kids homeless.

The 26-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she has been raising her children, all aged under 3, since her ex-partner disappeared with another woman late last year.

She was offered a job on a good salary in Brisbane, and saw it as an opportunity for a fresh start. She made plans to move with her kids this month. But three weeks before she was due to move, her ex-partner filed a without notice application in the Family Court. It places a border alert on her name, and means the children can’t be taken out of the country.

The man claimed he was told of the move only three weeks before her departure. He said he saw the children every second weekend, and wanted to continue regular contact. The reason he gave for the urgent application was ‘‘risk to personal safety’’, but the woman said she told her ex in August and he agreed. She said he was difficult to contact, with a history of methamphetamine use, and had seen the children just twice in the past few months. She has a protection order against him, shown to Stuff, after she provided evidence in court that he physically abused her and called her mother threatening to ‘‘destroy your daughter’s f ...... life’’.

The woman said her lease had expired on the property she was renting – due to the imminent move, she had not intended to renew it – and she was now crisscrossing the country, staying in motels.

‘‘He’s done this not for the kids, but because he wants to keep me here and control me. He’s using his guardianship rights as a tool,’’ the woman said.

After the man’s initial Family Court application, a judge said his evidence was ‘‘very limited’’ and gave him leave to file further evidence by the following day.

The man then provided to the court an email purporting to show he was informed of the woman’s departure onlythree weeks beforehand. But it was fabricated, the woman said, and she believed urgent Family Court applications shouldn’t be granted without compelling evidence.