can i keep my children from having to stay at there dads

[erinmo]

i am divorced and we have joint legal custody of our 2 children. he is now remarried and moved to a house we use to live in when we were first married. the house in my opinion is not in livable cercumstances, the reason i made him move out before is because i found two snakes in the house, it was infested with mice and spiders. they have no kitchen sink dishes are washed in the bathtub, he has put up sheet metal on some of the walls on the inside to cover the holes my children come home with bites all over them and are very dirty. i have made a hotline call to the child abuse number and they say that what i told them does not fit in the guidlines to send someone out there. i am very concerned about my children going over there, me question is can is should i get a lawyer and keep my children from going over there for the time being and if i do is that going to be against the court and will i get in trouble for that?

 

[irish223]

You can be found in contempt if you do not honor his visitation, and it is possible that it could eventually affect your custody.

Consult a lawyer if you want to change your current order.

 

[erinmo]

thanks

i was afraid of that, this is going to be so hard to continue to send them over there after seeing the living conditions. do you think it will be worth it to get a lawyer, is there anything that they could do? right know he is not paying child support, he got his and his new wifes stimulas check taken by child support enforcement, and now he is fighting that and we have to have a hearing because he is saying that i am lieing about the amount he had payed me when we had the case closed. will that be something i need a lawyer for?

 

[irish223]

i was afraid of that, this is going to be so hard to continue to send them over there after seeing the living conditions. do you think it will be worth it to get a lawyer, is there anything that they could do? right know he is not paying child support, he got his and his new wifes stimulas check taken by child support enforcement, and now he is fighting that and we have to have a hearing because he is saying that i am lieing about the amount he had payed me when we had the case closed. will that be something i need a lawyer for?

What case was closed? The child support case with CSE? Is he supposed to be paying child support now? Was he in arrears?

If you have a hearing coming up, I think you should have a lawyer to help you. If your ex requested the hearing, you may be able to ask that he pay your lawyer's fees. Also, your lawyer can better advise you about modifying the custody/visitation due to living conditions, and whether or not that issue can be brought up in this hearing.

Good Luck.

 

[erinmo]

in jan of this year he quit his job that he had and child support enforcement was taking the money out of his check each week. he was jobless four a couple of weeks so he did not pay. when he got a job building houses they do not tke taxes out so child support enforce could no longer take he money from his check,and he started getting behind. we both agreed to have the case closed and he could just pay me. so for about 4 month when he would come and get the kids he had to pay me first. when we got into it one day when i asked to come and get the kids from his house and asked for the address, which i did not know, he got mad and told me i could not come to his house i had no reason to.i told him i had every right to know where he lived. he then told me he would not pay me any more and if i wanted money i had to open the case back up. i did that and they asked me for a noterised letter statind what he paid me in that time the case was closed because he had a balance still on the account. so i did that but he still had a balance after they got my letter. so he was way behind and they took his stimulas check and he says i lied and took advantage of him and he does not owe it.

 

[ohiogranny]

so for about 4 month when he would come and get the kids he had to pay me first.

I'm not sure about the rest of it, but I do know you can't charge him an admission fee to see his kids. One has nothing to do with the other. If he brings that up in court it won't be pretty.

 

[erinmo]

so since he is not paying his child support i am pretty much giving him money to spend on a weekend with his kids since i have to drive them to him thats pretty messed up dont you think??? he was behind in paying which is not following the divorce papers, i was following the guidlines of the divorce papers dont you think he should have to do the same??

 

[ohiogranny]

Yes, he should follow the orders, and if he doesn't, file for contempt. A non custodial parent is not obliged to exercise their RIGHT to visitation, but must meet their OBLIGATION to pay. A parent with custody must make the child available to the other parent whether they pay or not, or whether they see the child or not. My son's exgf gave him custody 6 years ago and she is over 14 grand in arrears. She still gets to see him, she just doesn't choose to very often.

If you don't like doing all the driving, file to change it. And, you don't get to force him to follow the order. The court does.