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A bench warrant?

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tiggerswife

Guest
What is the name of your state? Massachusettes


hmmm i think my topic got lost somewhere..but my question really didnt get answered...so bear with me as i ask again in a different phrase.

O.k here goes...I have a 9 yearold son and i never married the father. The dept of revenue child support enforcement division...(of Massachusettes as that where i lived at the time.) took my childs father to court...for child support as i had to go on welfare back in "97"...no visitation or custody was set up for the father( i checked thecase file with a lawyer) Well, after 6 years of excuses of why he cannot and WILLNOT pay chils support(yup he refuses!) I finally decided to take legal action.
Child support was ordered in Massachusettes...i now live in Canada. I am married and am 4 months pregnant in a high risk pregnancy(due to past miscarriages) And for some strange reason...my child's father does not want to setup a legal visitation order and STILL isnt paying child support...So my lawyer suggest that i have DOR file contempt charges on my son's father for not paying child support...and i am thinking about it.
It now gets complicated...after 9 months of being out of massachusettes(the lawyer said) the state no longer has juristiction of my son.My son's father is refusing me my son's passport to complete our immigration here in Canada.Says he wont let me have it unless i hand deliver our son to him for visitation.
Now my husband is refusing me to go..says he will not allow me to leave becuz i might have problems getting back into Canada and my doctors are in canada.Plus there is no order set tp prevent my son's father from kidnapping my son. Hubby says that if my son's father is going to be that way he will put an order on me saying that i cannot leave while pregnant with his child. Now theres pressure on both the lawyer and the hubby to have the father do jail time for practically never paying chils support.
But what will happen once hes in jail? how will get my sopn's passport? what happens to my son's father's right while he's in jail? he doesnt have any form of custody or visitation? Can a father deny a passport while he's incarcerated?
DOR told me i never needed the father or the states permission to leave massachusettes as they were the ones going after child support not me...so i am not here illegally as there is no order telling me i have to remain in the state.Whats My rights if the Father refuses to exercise his rights in fear of being found by the legal system???

Sorry this is long but am stuck and the lawyer isnt giving much info...My childs anddddd my husbands and my life are on hold becuase of this and so is my unborn child's
 


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lott517

Guest
I don't mean to be offensive but it sounds to me like you really only want your son's passport and since the father is not giving it to you - you are thinking about taking him to court to enforce a child support order that hasn't been enforced for 6 years?

Which you have the RIGHT to do.

However, if your major priority right now (besides the health of you and your baby) is your son's passport I would look into different avenues on how you could obtain it w/ or w/o your x's help. Can you call US custumes or immigration to see if they can advise you, what does Canada say your opt are or don't they?

From what I recall from your other posts I would trust your gut and not allow your son to visit his father at this time *esp* since there is no visitation order set-up. Again, let your x pursue that issue.
 
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tiggerswife

Guest
Thankyou so much for responding!!!. um i have tried several times to work with my son's father...i have NEVER denied him his son...but he has always denied his responceability. With him, its always his way or no way....see, i left him almost 6 years ago..becuase he was beating me up and becuase he was doing drugs in my home.
I left him and he's been trying to control things around me and my son ever since. Ive always believed he had a "right" to his son....and by me doing so...he has blantly used his son to manipulate me. NO matter how much i plea to him to work with me on this all he does is laugh in my face. Even his mother and sister think hes been horriable and believe that it would serve him right to lose his son for screwing up sp badly.
He knows that my son needs a passport to complete his immigration process...but hes deliberatly witholding in order to try to get visitation and maybe force me to come back to the states.Thats why my hubby wants to put an order out so that my son's father cannot do anything legal to have me come back.

I don't want tp put my son's father in jail....i want him to growup and support his son...to be a father to him and to stop using him in ways that punish me.But again, inless things go EXactly his way..everyone suffers. Even if its his own son. basically....he's a control freak. I just don't understand why the law covers such pathetic peoples's parental rights....this guy doesnt even care he just uses his "rights" to get to other people.
Seems no matter how hard i try to provide a better life for me and my son....the law gives this guy control over lives he really could care less about...this guys will always have the "right" to destroy me and my son's life in one shape or another.
Anyway to answer your question i already asked the passport issuence place how i go about getting a passport for my son considering the circumstances...their answer....I CAN'T that i HAVE to have the father sign for it otherwize no passport.
:( :( :( :confused:
 

VeronicaGia

Senior Member
Since you were on welfare, the DOR may issue a support order for you but realize he will be made to repay the state of MA back for welfare and will have to pay you current support. Believe me, the state will get their money whether you ever see any of it or not.

You can hire an attorney to represent your interests in MA while you stay in Canada.

And it is true you have to have the signature of both parents for a passport. But I'm not sure I understand why you need a passport for Canada, since I go over the border all the time with nothing more than a license, and since 9/11, a birth certificate.
 
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OnlyOneVoice

Guest
But I'm not sure I understand why you need a passport for Canada,
I think she is saying the passport is needed for them to complete their immigration from the US to Canada.
 
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tiggerswife

Guest
OnlyOneVoice said:
I think she is saying the passport is needed for them to complete their immigration from the US to Canada.


Thats exactly what i am saying. see my delema??
 

haiku

Senior Member
I would think you can file for custody in Ma. And work out a visitation agreement for living in canada.....
 
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tiggerswife

Guest
haiku said:
I would think you can file for custody in Ma. And work out a visitation agreement for living in canada.....
But that's my problem....the father refuses to set up visitation through the courts its either let him have visitation his way or no passport.
 
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OnlyOneVoice

Guest
I'd go to the courts have visitation set up and inform the judge that he refuses to surrender the child's passport.

I would be very cautious about "verbally agreed" visitation.

Get a lawyer, set a hearing and get a court order to force him to surrender the boy's passport
 

haiku

Senior Member
you do not need the dads permission to petition for custody, it is up to him to show up when he is served.
 
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tiggerswife

Guest
I know but my lawyer said that if he does not show up to the hearing that it has to go to trial...and that could take up to 2 years...meanwhile i have to come back to the states and wait..that means 2 years away from my hubby...and that can'y happen cuz i am pregnant.

If fathers have a right to have a relationship with htheir child..how can a judge say my son's father had the right to pull me back to the states when my husband has a right to have a relationsip to the one i am expecting?...( sorry i am baffled).....

Anyways thats what my lawyer said..if i petition for custody and the father doesnt show up..(he wont he does have a police prob and doesnt want to be found by the legal system) Then it has to go to trial. with a jury and all. *sighs*
 
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OnlyOneVoice

Guest
You said the father has a police problem and doesn't want to be found by the law.

Here's your solution: Report him and have him arrested.

Voila!!!!! He goes to jail, you're off the hook, show up at the arraignment and tell the judge he's holding your son's passport. And you're done.

Sounds mean I know but if he's wanted, you don't want to let your son go with him, because he has every reason to take your son and disappear. And without a court order of visitation and custody you would be able to do absolutely nothing if he did!!
 

CMSC

Senior Member
You say that you have a child support order. So in essance the court sees you as the custodial parent.

NOW, my question is. Is the father on your child's birth certificate? If he is not, you have NO problem getting a passport unless there is some court order saying you can't leave the state with your child.

You see if you are the only one on the birth certificate and there are no court orders, you are considered the only legal parent. So I would suggest calling to find out about getting a new passport for your child.
 

haiku

Senior Member
in the state of massachusetts to receive welfare you MUST name a father for benefits. unmarried couples the mother automatically receives custody without an order in place.

in massachusetts, the custodial parent cannot leave the state without permision being listed with the court.

Without a custody order of SOLE, or a death certificate for the ex, immigration will believe the other parent still has rights to say no.


the posters ex may NEVER take it to court for visitation rights and until then, she does not have to entertain his wishes.

our poster really has no choice but to take this to court, if she wants her sons passport and for son to continue visiting dad. 2 years may be the worst case scenario but it may not be.

she will not be the first parent who will have to "tie up loose ends" before moving on.....
 
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tiggerswife

Guest
*sighs* well, thanks for the info...but i am lost about one thing..why would D.O.R tellme i can move anywhere i want and that i dont need permission as long as the father doesnt have legal visitation or custody...When i first knew i was going to move to Canada...i couldnt afford a lawyer so i contacted Legal aid..they told me the same thing. thios whole thing is confusing i make all these plans by what the lawyer and legal aid said only to find out my pregnant butt has to come back and get permission from the state?...good lord!!
 

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