do i have enough for a modification to child visitation?

[tj2008]

My jurisdiction is: Sarasota, County, Florida

my daughter's father & I share custody & visitation. our daughter is 4 years old. a couple weeks ago, he was dropping our daughter off at school and a friend of mine was dropping their son off at the same time. that friend asked my ex for a cigarette and when my ex pulled out his pack from his jeans pocket, a drug needle came out with it. my ex said he found it and was going to throw it away. when confronted about it by his mom, he said it belonged to his sister and that he put it in his pocket to throw away. i dont believe this and do not want my daughter to be around anything like that. it bothers me that he even had it in his pocket while she was with him. i now wonder if he has used it when she was with him. my ex has used drugs since he was a teenager and just went from one drug to another and that is one of the reasons i left him. he has never been convicted of drug use though. do i have enough to be granted a court order for my ex to have to take random drug tests? is there an emergency order to stop visitation so he cant pick her up? i dont want to keep them apart forever; just until he can stop using drugs. i need to keep my daughter safe until then. what do i do?

 

[BayState]

My jurisdiction is: Sarasota, County, Florida

my daughter's father & I share custody & visitation. our daughter is 4 years old. a couple weeks ago, he was dropping our daughter off at school and a friend of mine was dropping their son off at the same time. that friend asked my ex for a cigarette and when my ex pulled out his pack from his jeans pocket, a drug needle came out with it. my ex said he found it and was going to throw it away. when confronted about it by his mom, he said it belonged to his sister and that he put it in his pocket to throw away. i dont believe this and do not want my daughter to be around anything like that. it bothers me that he even had it in his pocket while she was with him. i now wonder if he has used it when she was with him. my ex has used drugs since he was a teenager and just went from one drug to another and that is one of the reasons i left him. he has never been convicted of drug use though. do i have enough to be granted a court order for my ex to have to take random drug tests? is there an emergency order to stop visitation so he cant pick her up? i dont want to keep them apart forever; just until he can stop using drugs. i need to keep my daughter safe until then. what do i do?

No, you do not have "enough" for any change in custody.

 

[Duranie]

This is all hearsay. You have no proof of anything. You certainly have no grounds to stop visits or for emergency custody, if you want to file a motion in court to ask for a drug test then talk to an attorney.

 

[luvsspike]

I think you need to go back to court and ask for drug testing based on this incident and his past. I had something similar happen to me. I had a bunch of hearsay that my ex was doing drugs too. I retained my original divorce attorney and went to court. He tested positive; I was given primary custody; he had to complete a drug program. Once he completed it and tested clean, regular shared custody was put back into order. Be prepared to take a drug test yourself at your cost. You definitely can't take this into your own hands and modify custody on your own.

 

[tj2008]

I think you need to go back to court and ask for drug testing based on this incident and his past. I had something similar happen to me. I had a bunch of hearsay that my ex was doing drugs too. I retained my original divorce attorney and went to court. He tested positive; I was given primary custody; he had to complete a drug program. Once he completed it and tested clean, regular shared custody was put back into order. Be prepared to take a drug test yourself at your cost. You definitely can't take this into your own hands and modify custody on your own.

Thanks for the reply and helpful suggestions. I didn't use an attorney for the divorce ... I did that all myself too. I am going to contact an attorney that will give me free legal advice and then jump in. I agree, that asking for a drug test is best to do first before I ask for a modification. Im glad to hear that your ex had to go through a drug program; my ex really needs help and maybe this will push him to get it. In the end, I hope that he will overcome his addiction and be in my daughters life. They both deserve it. Thanks again for your input on my situation

 

[BayState]

Thanks for the reply and helpful suggestions. I didn't use an attorney for the divorce ... I did that all myself too. I am going to contact an attorney that will give me free legal advice and then jump in. I agree, that asking for a drug test is best to do first before I ask for a modification. Im glad to hear that your ex had to go through a drug program; my ex really needs help and maybe this will push him to get it. In the end, I hope that he will overcome his addiction and be in my daughters life. They both deserve it. Thanks again for your input on my situation

I would be interested to know if a judge orders the testing. Please post back with the results.