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Child Visitation: how late is too late? Is it time to see the judge?
Anonymous2 views4 answers
I have 3 kids with my ex-wife and an official custody agreement signed by a Judge in Gwinnett county. My ex-wife has primary physical custody and we share joint legal custody. My ex-wife chronically late to the custody exchange, because of her new job. She has is often 1 to 2 hours late. Sometimes with a short warning but most of the time not (i have text messages & police reports for documentation). She has enrolled our youngest child in a school 50 miles outside of the county for her conveyance without my knowledge. If this child were enrolled in a local school like her siblings, someone could pick her up from school on time and the kids would have no trouble getting to visitation on time. Is it time to go to court, or should I accept it? If I go to court what type of remedy is fair?
If you want to file for contempt and/or a modification, it sounds like there is plenty of justification to go ahead and file an action. I advise not doing anything without seeking legal representation first, and it would help your case if you could provide sufficient evidence of her past conduct in the form of school records, maybe police reports you identified, reports you have made of her late showings up, possibly text messages or emails that support your position, etc..
I think you should discuss this matter more thoroughly with an attorney before deciding whether to file something. It appears you have justification for both a contempt action and a modification action. You may ask the court to hold the mother in contempt for failing to follow the agreement, but more importantly, you may be able to modify terms of the parenting plan to account for the issues in your question. I think speaking with an attorney will give you the answers you need to decide your next steps. Good luck!
The question is what do you want to accomplish? Do you want to force her to comply with the order in which case you're talking about a motion for contempt or do you want to modify the terms of your prior agreement? If you want her found in contempt, the judge may give you make up time or award attorneys fees. What does your agreement say about school choice? I would have to know that before I could give you some input on the inconvenience cool selection.
If it's time to change things, there will be a number of factors to consider. What has changed since the last order? How does it impact the children? How old are the children? Are they old enough to have their opinions considered and do they have opinions?
There is no quick answer to your question. You need to have a consult with an attorney who specializes in these matters.
You can pursue contempt AND modification. There is law now that allows custody modification in a contempt case if you dot all your i's etc. So you should consult a lawyer about that. You said you have joint legal custody and it is very likely she violated that if she unilaterally changed your son's school. She may have had the "tie breaker" status, but the plan doubtless said she had to confer with you in advance. If you qualify to file both in one court, you may as well do so.
