Continual denied visitation
step_mom
live in GA. We missed visitation with them last Christmas because their
mother denied visitation, as she did last summer and the summer before.
We have seen them sporatically when she feels like letting us see them.
She has several counts of contempt against her although she has not
been charged yet. We have been through the psychological evaluation for
custody. We are waiting on the report to be finished and revealed.
Until then, she is denying visitation for Christmas again. My husband
sent a signed paper that set out the time, place, and date that they
were to meet so the visitation and custody exchange could take place.
She got it several days ago. Our attorney hand delivered it to her
attorney.
Nothing was signed. We have heard nothing from her regarding if she is
going to bring the boys or not. We have nothing prepared because we
don't know what is going on. We asked her to sign the agreement Dec
15th so we would have time to prepare (rent a car, ask for time off
work,etc.). She cares nothing about these things.
My question is, what do we do now? I figure our bases are all covered
since both attorneys read our intentions for when, where and how to
meet for the custody exchange. We only asked that she sign the
agreement or let our attorney know if another time or meeting place
would be better for her. She did neither. She ignored everything. So
the ball is in her court.
My husband called his attorney who said he has been trying all day to
get ahold of her attorney and he is getting no returned phone calls and
getting nowhere. He advised us to email her and see if she responds.
If she responds at midnight saying "sure I'll be there" then what?
We've had no time to plan. She plays these head games every time there
is visitation. How do we get around this? We don't want to be the ones
in contempt when it's clearly her that is messing around again.
Thanks very much.
Raif Palmer
the prior orders of Court say in this case. (For example, I don't know
what the Christmas visitation schedule was supposed to be, or whether
the Judgment left it up to the parties to agree in the future). The
Court will require parties to obey its prior orders. If the divorce
decree provides that visitation is to occur at Christmas and the
ex-wife is denying the visitation, your husband's attorney can bring a
Petition for Rule to Show Cause to force the lady into court to explain
why she should not be held in contempt for failing to obey the Judgment
(or subsequent order). If she fails to show, the Court can issue a
warrant for her arrest to basically drag her into Court to answer for
her failure to obey.
Unfortunately, none of this is automatic. When a party disobeys an
order, the other party has no choice but to bring a motion before the
Court to address the issue, costing both money and time. You can seek
reimbursement of fees for the motion due to the other party's failure
to obey (though whether fees are awarded is up to the discretion of the
Court).
More recent divorce judgments provide for mandatory mediation before
bringing a visitation issue before the Court however. Check the
Judgment to see whether mediation is required for parenting issues and
the parameters of that mediation. Your husband may not be able to take
action in court until he attempts to mediate the issue. (Mediation is
essentially a meeting with a third party - usually an experienced
family lawyer or former judge - to try to settle differences out of
court).
Best is to have your husband ask his attorney what the plan is in this
case. It is next to impossible to resolve a visitation problem in
front of a court this close to a holiday.
Please check out my blog at www.illinoisdivorce.blogspot.com or call
me, Raiford Palmer, at 630.434.0400 Ext. 165 for more information. We
provide free intial consults for family law matters. My firm, Momkus
McCluskey, is conveniently located in the heart of DuPage County,
Illinois. We handle the full spectrum of divorce and parentage matters
and provide personal service to all of our clients.