I agree with the different pieces of advice my colleagues have given, but I would also add certin things, based on information that you have not included (as noted, these situations are incredibly fact-specific, and there are really no one-size-fits-all answers due to the specifics of the case, which need to be specific for the parties AND for the child, whose best interests outweigh the other considerations). If you were divorced from him, and have not brought a child custody modification action before, this one would not count against that 2-year limit on custody modification actions (since it would be the FIRST modification). Take advantage of that to set a guideline for the behavior of the parties, that ensures that he only gets visitation if he provides support, as he ought to. Additionally, if this is the first time you have brought an action to modify custody, then your quest for contempt fees - and to get him on a baseline of appropriate parent behavior - is actually a pretty good one. People tend to be permitted a reasonable length of rope before they hang themselves, and the law doesn't like to strip away parental rights without alot of effort to keep them intact, but parental rights DO matter, and not taking them seriously can really count against a person (see the United States Supreme Court decision in Troxel v. Granville for a really good discussion on the importance of parental rights).