Ex Parte

[cinders2969]

Missouri

A friend is wanting to get a divorce from his wife of 5 years. They have 3 children. She said she will seek a ex parte against him to prevent him from seeing his children if he leaves. Can she do this? What can he do to prevent this from happening? Thank you.

[mistoffolees]

Originally Posted by cinders2969

Missouri

A friend is wanting to get a divorce from his wife of 5 years. They have 3 children. She said she will seek a ex parte against him to prevent him from seeing his children if he leaves. Can she do this? What can he do to prevent this from happening? Thank you.

Does she have reasonable grounds to prevent him from seeing his kids? Has he abused them? Are the children in danger in any way when they're in his presence?

If there's no abuse or danger, she probably won't win in the long run, but she could make his life miserable for a while. Best to see an attorney ASAP.

[Golfball]

IMNSHO, people who seek an ex parte w/o a legitimate emergency (even in states that have taken semi-permanent leave of their senses and allow ex parte hearings in absence of an actual emergency, regardless of how limited the non-emergency circumstances may be) should be beaten senseless (figuratively) with a nice heavy textbook.

Ex parte hearings are an incredibly d*ckish thing to do unless absolutely necessary, and will almost certainly enrage the STBX in question, making further negotiations/relations much more difficult.

[cinders2969]

No there is no grounds. He never hurt the children. She is doing this out of spite, because she doesn't want him to leave and to divorce her. He works 10 hours a day, comes home and takes care of the kids while she leaves to sing karoke three nights a week! Plus he fell out of love with her. He said she would lie to the courts and try to say he is unfit. Wouldn't she have to have some sort of documentation, say from the police? Which there is none, because the police have never been called. I am sure the courts are all too familiar with people lying to get even with their STBX.

Thanks for the advice.

Originally Posted by mistoffolees

Does she have reasonable grounds to prevent him from seeing his kids? Has he abused them? Are the children in danger in any way when they're in his presence?

If there's no abuse or danger, she probably won't win in the long run, but she could make his life miserable for a while. Best to see an attorney ASAP.

[mistoffolees]

Originally Posted by cinders2969

No there is no grounds. He never hurt the children. She is doing this out of spite, because she doesn't want him to leave and to divorce her. He works 10 hours a day, comes home and takes care of the kids while she leaves to sing karoke three nights a week! Plus he fell out of love with her. He said she would lie to the courts and try to say he is unfit. Wouldn't she have to have some sort of documentation, say from the police? Which there is none, because the police have never been called. I am sure the courts are all too familiar with people lying to get even with their STBX.

Yes, she will have to provide evidence to back up any request to deny him access to the kids (police reports, witnesses, etc). Simply going to court and saying "he's a bad man so keep him from his kids" won't work. Furthermore, she needs to demonstrate that there's a true emergency which justifies an ex parte hearing (although some judges are more lenient on this than others). If she tries and can't back up her claim, it will look bad for her in going forward.

In the unlikely event that she can obtain an ex parte order, he will be able to go back to the court to demonstrate that her claims are false.

Sadly, yes, it is far too common.