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Held in contempt?

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What is the name of your state? OH

I have been taking my daughter to a counselor, because of anxiety problems that were diagnosed by a doctor. The counselor informed us that the anxiety stems from visits to her fathers, and called CYS to report child neglect last week. (He is sleeping the entire day and my daughter is sitting there waiting for him to wake up with nothing to eat!!) My daughter is afraid of him because he is very paranoid and yells at her, plus is very violent and cusses me out during exchange.

I have paperwork drawn up with my lawyer, we are waiting for the CYS paperwork to go through. The lawyer does not want to jump the gun he said. I am seeking supervised visitation, and no overnights. The father gets her for 3 weeks out of the summer, not consecutive. He does not watch my daughter during this time ... he ships her off to whomever his girlfriend is at the time or sometimes he will ship her off to stay with his ex-wife and their child. I don't see how this is okay since it states in my paperwork that if the parent will not be home for an overnight the other parent has first option to take the child. When I mentioned this at our last conciliation meeting (about 2 years ago.) I was told that the father can do what he wants with my child during "his time." Does this sound right????

I am feeling trapped by a poor system. My daughter is the victim here. She is not being supervised, not fed, sleeping on a dirty floor or in bed with her father in a filthy environment!!!

About the first and most important issue ... the visitation and anxiety problems ... my lawyer has advised me that I could not send my child with her father the next time because he is not taking care of her. Yes, I will be in contempt of a court order ... but he said that it is for a good reason. I'm nervous about this because I don't want my daughter to be in a neglectful environment ... plus, I do not want to risk losing custody because I am not following court orders. I have had custody of my daughter since day one. I was never married to the father. He only sees her every other weekend and does not come to any school or after-school activities, does not participate in medical decisions or anything else pertaining to my daughter. He does pay child support, not happy about it, but does it. I wondered what the feeling was here about my situation ... does everyone here feel that I can rightfully refuse to give the father visitation at his next weekend?? I feel it is morally the right thing to do to protect my child until we can get a court date and modify the visitation. What does everyone here think?????
 


tigger22472

Senior Member
Is your attorney a local attorney? Does he deal with the local judge that would hear the case often?

I generally don't tell people they can go against a court order. HOWEVER, first off you have DOCUMENTATION through the counselor... Regardless of what child protective services say you need to have your lawyer file for an emergency hearing and take what documentation you do have this will save you from the contempt charge.

I do know of a case personally that the CP filed for an emergency hearing (took 2 weeks to get) and was told by her lawyer to deny visitation just as you were and things turned out fine. CP showed that there was a reason for the denial and the judge didnt' hold her in contempt and in fact stopped all visitation to the NCP(there were drugs involved in that case). Again, I suggest you get that emergency hearing filed for NOW! You don't want to sit on it. If the hearing isn't before dad's next visit take your child and visit some place around the time that dad shows up for his visitation. Even better have your lawyer send him a letter letting him know of your intentions but I still recommend not being either at home for at least a few hours. If dad has a tendency to be violent make sure others are around and you stay with others for the weekend if you think he's going to cause a fuss about this.
 
Yes, I have a local attorney who deals in the county court system exclusively.

I asked the attorney to file an emergency hearing, but he said to wait on CYS paperwork to go through. I don't know how long this takes or if I will even be notified when it does. I'm just about ready to tell my lawyer to stuff it and find another one.

Thanks for the advice!
 

tigger22472

Senior Member
scaredmom123 said:
Yes, I have a local attorney who deals in the county court system exclusively.

I asked the attorney to file an emergency hearing, but he said to wait on CYS paperwork to go through. I don't know how long this takes or if I will even be notified when it does. I'm just about ready to tell my lawyer to stuff it and find another one.

Thanks for the advice!
The problem with this is you will have no real court documentation before denying visitation to dad. Filing the emergency hearing first will give you leverage if dad thinks of filing contempt. What if CYS doesn't do the paperwork for a month? You deny dad 2 visitations SOLELY on the bases of your lawyer told you do. In the end YOUR the one that faces the concequences of those actions. Do you have copies of what the counselor said and turned in to CYS? Have you talked to CYS yourself? I would go up to your local office and ask to speak to a caseworker. See if you can get any information that would help you file for that emergency hearing. The problem with not filing and waiting on CYS is that if you deny dad and then CYS doesn't do anything at all or neither does your lawyer you have the possibility of contempt. Of course dad would have to file for it, the magic contempt fairy doesn't really exsist as some posters here sometimes tend to believe :p
 
The counselor discussed with me what she was going to report. My lawyer can ask, in writing, for a written report from the counselor. Which I asked him to do. He doesn't seem to think this is as dire a situation as I think it is. I will be calling him tomorrow and asking again for him to file an emergency hearing ... if he doesn't I'm going to find someone else. Thanks for your help. You helped me out a lot by confirming what I thought I should be doing, and what I thought I should expect from my lawyer! I appreciate your help!!
 

tigger22472

Senior Member
scaredmom123 said:
The counselor discussed with me what she was going to report. My lawyer can ask, in writing, for a written report from the counselor. Which I asked him to do. He doesn't seem to think this is as dire a situation as I think it is.
Hum.. but yet he thought it important enough to tell you to go against a court order. Again, your A** is the one who ends up in the sling. Yes, I would demand he file for the emergency hearing or find another lawyer and quick because you need some proof before denying visits.
 
There is no way for a custodial parent to file for an emergency hearing by themselves is there? I'm just wondering in case my lawyer doesn't file it tomorrow when I call him ... and in the meantime of me finding a new lawyer, I could get the ball rolling myself????
 

tigger22472

Senior Member
scaredmom123 said:
There is no way for a custodial parent to file for an emergency hearing by themselves is there? I'm just wondering in case my lawyer doesn't file it tomorrow when I call him ... and in the meantime of me finding a new lawyer, I could get the ball rolling myself????

Yes, it CAN be done but you have to know what forms to fill out and exactly how to do it.. so I definately don't recommend it.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
scaredmom123 said:
The counselor discussed with me what she was going to report. My lawyer can ask, in writing, for a written report from the counselor. Which I asked him to do. He doesn't seem to think this is as dire a situation as I think it is. I will be calling him tomorrow and asking again for him to file an emergency hearing ... if he doesn't I'm going to find someone else. Thanks for your help. You helped me out a lot by confirming what I thought I should be doing, and what I thought I should expect from my lawyer! I appreciate your help!!
You probably aren't going to see this before you contact your attorney, but I disagree to some extent with the other posters here. Your local attorney knows the local judges and how they react. Its also possible that in your community that an emergency hearing can be scheduled much more quickly than in others. (I know that in my large city it can be done in 3 days).

By all means talk to your attorney, in depth, on the issue. But please don't automatically assume that your attorney isn't advising you on the proper steps. If you are concerned get a consult with another attorney before deciding to fire the one that you have already paid.
 

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