Contact Arrangements

My husband and I have just started divorce proceedings. Due to some very hurtful behaviour by my husband towards my son recently - my son has decided that he currently does not want to see his father. I am being accused of heavily influencing my son against his father - I''m not my son is devasted by his father''s behaviour. At what age will contact arrangements cease to be enforced by a court if my husband tries to insist on access?
My son will be 16 next month

Hi Pammie and welcome to Wikivorce. A court can only make an order for a child up to the age of 16, and in practice will be less likely to make an order the closer a child reaches that age, so your husband will not be able to make an application (or, at least, he can, but it won''t get as far as court).

Were your son younger, an application would have to be preceded by an attempt to mediate, anyway, and this might still be a better approach. The task is for both you and your husband to try to encourage your son to have another go at the relationship with his father. I would certainly encourage you to do that sooner rather than later - the longer the present situation continues the harder it will be to overturn. It may well be necessary to seek some form of family therapy to enable that to happen.