Fathers Visitation Right

[victorias]

I would like any advice that can be given to me on this subject. My husband has a 12 year old daughter that he does have visitiation rights too and he does pay child support on a monthly basis. He loves his daughter very much. Unfortunately the mother of his daughter does not like him to see her. She married shortly after the birth of the baby and has pushed for the child to call her husband "daddy". The mother has become very good at telling us to come and pick her up for our weekend and we get there and no one is home. Or the daughter will let us know about school activities that she has and ask us to come and when the mother finds out we know she doesn't let her go. Her recent stunt is that she has changed the phone number and made it unlisted so now we can not even call her. This is her third time doing that in the last few years. I just feel like if we are doing are part, loving the child, and providing for the child, we should be able to see her on a regular basis. The child is happy with us every time and loves to visit. I have been told that we could hold the mother in contempt of court but we are ignorant to the law. Can anyone help us in this area. Or tell us how we can guaranty our visitation with her. Thank you!

 

[Michael Wechsler]

You were told correctly. You should petition the court (the court that issued the order for visitation) and declare her in contempt of court and also recover any or all attorneys fees. If she pulls a stunt like changing the number then you may want to report it to the police as either a missing person or potential kidnapping. It is quite evident that the mother is trying to oust the father from the picture and is doing it the wrong way...

 

[victorias]

Thank you


I am confused on your reply. How can we report her as a missing child or a kidnapped child if we know where she is? She lives about an hour away, so it is not as if we can swing by everyday but we still know where she is. We just cannot contact her now. And we have not heard from the child in 2 weeks now so we are afraid that the mother has not allowed her to call. We went by the house over the weekend to see if she could come with us (should of been our weekend to keep her), and once again the door went unanswered. We are feeling really helpless here. One more question, would we actually need an attorney to file contempt of court? Thank you for your help.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Why do you presume to know where your child is? A reasonable person would give you the information but it appears that these are deliberate acts to shut you out. Nobody is home, you have no way to contact your children for a significant period of time -- this is an issue you may want to report. Would the police send out a crew to investigate immediately? I don't know. How do you know that she isn't leaving the state... with your children? Her acts are completely unreasonable and without any notice. Since you haven't heard from your children in almost TWO WEEKS -- I don't think you need to justify such a report.

 

[jimmysgirl]

I have been told that we could hold the mother in contempt of court Or tell us how we can guaranty our visitation with her.

WE cant hold mom in contempt, dad can. and its not OUR visitation, its dad's. you have no legal standing at all here, and need to step back, and let dad handle it