[Ami84]

My partner and I separated over 2 years ago, we have a 3 year old son and up until about 6 months ago he was very good at seeing him every weekend and contacting us during the week. He has however began to put his social life first and only sees our son when it suits him or if he doesn't have a social engagement, he sometimes goes up to 3 weeks without contact. YET when he wants to see our son I have to change any arangements I have already made at the drop of a hat.
I would like to know what my legal rights are. Last weekend he had our son and said he wasn't going to bring him back because he had just as much parental right as me. Do I need to go through the courts to get sole custody granted as I can't deal with the constant worrying that my son isn't going to be brought back every time he goes to stay with his father.
We were never married. He pays maintanance every month and his name is on the birth certificate.

[ScottGem]

Do i need to go through the courts to get sole custody granted as i can't deal with the constant worrying that my son isnt going to be brought back everytime he goes to stay with his father.
we were never married. He pays maintanance every month and his name is on the birth certificate.

This should have been done as soon as you split up. You should have gone to court to establish custody, child support and visitation. You NEED to do that immediately.

You can't force him to adhere to the visitation schedule, but if he misses a scheduled visit, you won't have to reschedule at his convenience. I would be consulting an attorney first thing tomorrow morning.