Future worries about access

my very soon to be ex husband had no input into our divorce, he moved from England back to the states, where he is from, before I started divorce proceedings and every effort was made to contact him and arrnage for access and maintenance for our daughter. He ignored all communication therefore we were divorced without his input.

my worry is that he will appear one day in the future and demand access rights even though he had nothing to do with her since we split up and I have had nothing from him since (18mths now). he is a completely worthless human being who is on hard drugs and has no permanent job in the states, he would be a terrible destructive influence on my little girl who has finally gotten over the trauma of his departure.

I would like to know where I am stand, where my daughter stands in the future if the worse was to happen.

Your husband could apply for contact in the future.

Under UK law, the issue then becomes 'What is in your daughter's best interests?'

It is generally considered that a child has a right to have contact with her parents and that a court will focus on the future not the past, so the fact that he has made no effort now wouldn't bar him from having contact in the future.

That said, if he returns after a long gap then any contact will need to build gradually at a pace and in ways which are right for your daughter if he is still in the US, this could initially be by his sending cards or letters, before moving on to Skype or phone calls, if in the UK, if there are concerns about his drug use then this could start in a safe venue such as a contact centre.
Whether or not contact would be appropriate would depend on the situation at th time he made the application or sought to come back into his daughter's life.

that is helpful and terrifying. I can't believe his past actions i.e. his drug use and violent aggressive actions which involved the police would have no bearing!

thankfully he never has enough money to even begin the process nevermind the travelling to come here. if I asked my daughter I know she would say she doesn't want him around, she's 6 years old and knows better. I have never said anything negative about him to her as I think that is wrong but she does remember his actions before he left.

I think I may apply for residency for her, is that right?

Someone with better legal knowledge than me, will probably answer. But I dont think you need to apply for residence. You have that already. For him to gain contact now, you can just refuse and the ball is in his court (literally). He would have to apply to court for that, and unless he is in this country there is no chance of that. He would have to attend court, and as previously stated, if and when granted, it would be extremely slowly. If, as you say, he has drug issues, do you think seriously, he would be able to get himself together to return to the UK, find employment and then seek contact? I do know how you feel, my X had drug plus alcohol issues and I still do not allow overnight contact, as I can not be sure he is dry/clean, but as time goes on, you will settle into a routine. Either he is out of her life completely and you get along like that, or contact and trust is built up. Try not to think too far away, lots of things may change that you can not even imagine now.