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Can my wife legally keep me from seeing my children while a divorce is in progress?
Anonymous2 views4 answers
My wife recently filed for divorce. We had been separated for about a year beforehand. About 2 weeks before she filed I was unable to reach her or my 2 children. (I used to call the kids everyone 2-3 days and visit every 2 weeks or so). I still haven't been able to reach the kids or my wife, apart from a single text saying she filed. I haven't seen or talked to my kids now for over a month. Do I have any options to see them or do I have to file for visitation? Thanks
If your wife is refusing to have a conversation about this, it sounds like you'll need to file for visitation. If you do, a guardian ad litem will likely be appointed to evaluate the situation and make recommendations as to how much and what kind of visitation will be in the best interest of the children. A judge will then hear all sides and issue a ruling.
you may want to consider talking to your wide about divorce mediation. If you had been able to work out financial and child related matters for over a year, it seems that something must have happened to cause your wife to start to handle things differently. Even though she has filed, it doesn't meant that mediation would not be appropriate - whether or not she has an attorney. You could consider emailing her about the option of mediation and some names of potential mediators. You could explain that it would be better for your children in the long run if you could work out a parenting schedule together that would meet both the needs of the children and the parents. Generally, the costs of mediation is less than an adversarial divorce process and is intended to reduce the conflict between parents at the time of divorce and after.
