Procedural status: First instance, following proof at Hamilton Sheriff Court. Later history checked 3 August 2026; no later decision found.
A contact case at Hamilton Sheriff Court concerning a highly autistic, pre-verbal child who could not express a view. Contact was granted with an alcohol condition, and the mother was given a specific issue order permitting foreign travel.
Background
The parties were in a relationship from 2015 until separation in September 2022. Their child, C, was born in 2018. C has been diagnosed as being on the autistic disorder spectrum, is classed as highly autistic and pre-verbal, requires significant additional support and routine, and attends an additional needs school. He is unable to express a view on contact with his father.
The mother has been C’s primary carer since birth.
What the sheriff decided
Sheriff Speir recalled all previous interim orders and made an order for contact between the father and C for six hours every fortnight on a Saturday, between 10.00am and 4.00pm, or on such other day and at such other times as the parties may agree. Contact was made subject to the condition that the father does not consume alcohol before or during contact.
The sheriff also made a specific issue order allowing the mother to take C outwith the United Kingdom for foreign travel and holidays for up to two weeks at a time, so long as within C’s school holiday periods or otherwise with the father’s consent, failing which by court order.
No expenses were found due to or by either party.
The sheriff expressed the hope, having regard to the parties’ previous engagement with one another both before litigation and in inconclusive mediation, that matters would improve once both adjusted their focus from the court proceedings to how C’s welfare and best interests might be met going forward.
Why this decision matters
Where a child cannot express a view because of age or disability, the court must reach its own assessment of welfare without that input. The child’s additional needs and requirement for routine shape what contact arrangement is workable rather than removing contact from consideration.
Conditions attached to contact are a practical tool. An alcohol condition allows contact to proceed where a concern exists that would otherwise weigh against it.
A specific issue order is the ordinary route to resolving foreign travel where consent is withheld, and the court can frame it prospectively rather than requiring an application for each trip.
Legal review: Brian Rooney, Managing Partner and Law Society of Scotland Accredited Specialist in Family Law.