Pick-up/Drop-off times

[Pink762]

Another of the smaller "waves" my fiancee's ex makes regularly....

He has supervised visitation every other weekend & one of his parents has to be with the child at all times. Over the two years, they have been there to pick him up or drop him back off on time once. We always meet somewhere to drop the little one off & pick him back up on their weekends. This also cuts down on their driving time since they live about an hour away, but we're not going as far as to meet them 1/2 way or anything. By the custody order, they are responsible for transportation to/from & the designated times are clearly spelled out. Problem is, they are consistently 15 min - an hour late, especially bringing him back. Pickups average about 10 min late, dropping him back off averages about 30 min late. No phone call saying "we're going to be late" & the pattern clearly shows it's just another way to irritate us. Is there anything that can be done? Would it be acceptable to leave the agreed upon meeting place at 5 min past the pickup time if they aren't there & deny visitation that weekend?

 

[luvbug32]

I am not an attorney, but I am going through a similar situation, except I am required to drive 4 1/2 hours one way to take my son to visit with his dad, who moved out of state. I was 2 1/2 hours late one Wednesday night. My attorney and I both contacted my ex to let him know my situation and he did not care. Since I showed up late, my ex filed contempt charges against me for not complying with the court order of having him there by a certain time.

I still went out of my way to get my son there. I would suggest doing the same, if you can. Comply with the order of the court, but see if you can file contempt charges against your ex/his parents for not complying. My son was required to stay in GA for 4 more days because I showed up 2 1/2 hours late.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I would say that there is a difference between your two situations. Luvbug -- sorry to hear about yours but it seems to be one time. If you had an accident and no phone and were marooned in the area, I cannot imagine that a court would not recognize the situation. Could you tell us more?

Pink -- you may want to document the situation and make sure that the other side is warned. I wouldn't care about 5 minutes but might want to notify the other side e.g. every night this week you were at least 15 minutes late and up to an hour. While you are certainly understanding of a few minutes here and there, this is clearly unacceptable. Then see what happens and go for it if necessary...