Court ordered visitation after four year absence?

[dadtothree]

Hello! My ex girlfriend and I have an 8 year old son. I had regular visitation with him for the first year, and then voluntarily stopped all contact with him for four years. This was a terrible mistake and I regret it more than anything. I have now been back in his life for three years. He and I have developed a good relationship and my ex, her psychologist and I all agree that our son has handled this situation extremely well. My ex has been fairly cooperative about gradually reintroducing visitation with the help of her psychologist and I have done everything exactly as they have required. I now see our son every other weekend and had him for two seperate one week periods last summer. She has now emailed me my permanent visitation schedule for the future. There are a few things that I don't agree with, particularly her holiday schedule.

My question is, if I go to court for visitation in Maryland, what specifically am I likely to receive taking my prior absence into consideration? I'm mainly interested in:

Drop-off time on Sundays of my weekends

Specific holiday schedule (which holidays are included, one day vs. extended visits, etc.)

Summer visitation

I responded to her emailed schedule hoping to compromise on these issues, but she said that it is not up for negotiation. I have done everything as she has required for the past three years, but I'm not ready to agree to her schedule now because she wants this to be permanent. Also, I'm unsure as to whether I should file for visitation so that we have an enforceable, court-ordered schedule, or if, because I made the terrible mistake or not being involved for four years, I should continue to do everything as required by my son's mother. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!

 

[countrylady]

I would go to court, if you have a medical professional that will say that your son has adjusted well to visitations with you I would fight for a court ordered visitation schedule. That way if something happens between you and the ex later on down the road, she can't decide she just doens't want you to see him. If her schedule is close to what you want, try to talk to a lawyer about using her schedule, but incoperating what you want too.