Joint Conservatorship w/ Grandparents

[jllutz2211]

I am currently under a court order for joint-conservatorship of my children with my ex-husband's parents. They have possession of my children and I am entitled to long distance visitations since we reside in different states. My Christmas visitation with the kids is supposed to start on Dec. 19th and run until noon on the 26th. The Grandparents are refusing to let me pick up my children and bring them back to TX with me for my visitation. They are not willing to abide by the court order. However, they did give me an "alternative," I can stay at the Grandparent's home for my visitation so they can "monitor" my visit with my kids. This IS NOT a part of the court order. I just want to pick up my children and bring them to my home for my visitation, as it is written in the order. Can anyone tell me how to go about having my court order enforced for my Christmas visitation?

 

[WhirledPeas]

One possibility is to arrive on time on the 19th to fetch the kids, go inside and greet the grandparents while helping your kids get ready to go, if needed. Bring your court order with you. If you're denied the visit, calmly show them the order where it say's you're permitted to take the kids out of state and clearly indicate your intention to do so. They can't dislike you that much if they're willing to share their home with you for nearly a week. If they try to stop you, calmly indicate your intention to call the police to help you enforce the order. They may relent if they see you're serious. If that fails, actually call the police and ask for an officer to assist you. Be the calm, rational one, the police don't have to get involved, but they might. You might try preemptively calling the police to ask them what you should do in the event the kids aren't released to you. There may be a public relations officer assigned to such cases.

 

[ohiogranny]

It sounds like the order is from Texas...correct?
What state do they live in? Check your papers, there MAY be wording in there to the effect that law enforcement can enforce the order. I could be wrong on this but I thought I'd heard other TX plans that state that. Do check with the locals to see what they say.
You could also send, ahead of time, an intent to exercise visitation
http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/intent.php follow the suggestions there.

You will have to physically attempt to get the kids in order to prove contempt if you are refused. Just having them refuse on the phone isn't enough and will be the same as you agreeing with that if you don't show up.

WhirledPeas had excellent suggestions. Good luck and keep us posted.