Burning questions..........

[gfearing]

I have a few questions and hope that I can get some answers or an idea of what I'm looking at. I live in Ohio as does my son's mom and right now I am unaware of his whereabouts since she picked him up for her visitation - we only have her P.O. Box # and that was with much prodding that I obtained that. No physical address. Considering that she only has a P.O. Box number, what would happen if she doesn't check her mail enough to see that she's to appear in court for a contempt of court charge? What could happen if she is a no show? Shortly thereafter I will file a child custody/visitation modification. If she disagrees with it (and she most likely will as she wants full custody) I imagine the judge will order mediation. What is the odds that a judge will simply opt and accept a reasonable proposal at the first hearing? Is this rare? With mediation, is there a time frame that he, the judge, allows for a decision to be made or can this just go on and on until a decision is made? Also, if we make the first move, are we obligated to pay her legal and court costs? She is currently not working and is living off of her student loans while searching for employment. We suspect that if this is the case that she's 'pulling' these things to push us into court. And if she does file something saying that she can't pay court costs, wouldn't her student loans be consdered 'public assistance'? I sincerely apologize for the lengthy post with numerous questions but school will be starting and we feel that time is against us.

 

[ohiogranny]

If you're planning to file for contempt, I take it there is a court order. Do you have custody? Was she exercising her parenting time per the order? And you let your son go to her without knowing where she lives? If it was her time, I guess you had to let him, or be in contempt yourself...but I think I would have filed something to compel her to give an address, maybe suspend parenting time until she did. I'm sure the order requires both of you to at least keep the court updated with current addresses.

Do you have an attorney? Is there some kind of emergency hearing you can have (problem comes in serving mom and finding the child)? Does the post office require an address when she applies for the PO box? If so, could the court order that to be revealed? Have you filed a police report?

 

[gfearing]

In decree there is no specifics on visitation other than that we alternate holidays, birthdays, etc. All else was to be agreed upon by us. She and I have equal joint legal and physical custody. We didn't know she had moved, only discovered it when I went to pick him up (with police attending) and found that someone else was living in her apt. and had been doing so for nearly two weeks. I have a copy of the incident report. Hence, ex knew when she picked son up for her visitation that she had already moved and had not informed us in any way. In decree there is nothing to state the other parent has to inform the other of moving but does state that ' all provisions of this agreement shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Ohio .' Also, today was his birthday and it was my year to have him and of course, that didn't happen so wouldn't that be contempt as it's in the decree? So, does the state of Ohio require a notice of some sort to the other parent of their intent to move? Thanks

 

[PILawGirl]

I'm not sure about Ohio's laws regarding giving notice of change of address. Check your court order regarding the notice of change of address.

I live in CA, but my custody agreement specifically states that each parent must give a 45-day notice before they move and supply the other parent with their new address. There are some instances when I person doesn't know they are moving 45-days in advance so there has to be some understanding. However, they should know at least a week or more BEFORE they move somewhere what their new address is going to be and they need to supply you with it if it is stated in the custody order.