Visitation Denied

I've been divorced for three years now and have not had any visitation with my child. The divorce agreement was finalized in the state of Florida and on two occasions I have filed for contempt for none visitaion. On both occaions the court denied my motion and stated on my last attempt that I could request supervised visitation; I'm not a criminal. The divorce agreement states on a rotational bases that I get 4 consecutive days of stay over visitation for the first week and one stay over on the second week. I feel that my former wife has alienated my child from me and my other children from my first marriage, but this is hard to prove in court and my former wife states that my child does not want to see me. The divorce agreement also states that my former wife will keep me informed on my childs progress. Since my last court appearance one year ago I have not received any information from my former wife such as my childs school grades. I'm fulfilling all my obligation per the divorce agreemet, including paying child support. I have a legal document but it's not worth the paper it's witten on if both of the parties are not required to fulfill their obligations. Since my child will be 17 years old in a few month, is it possible to get the court to discontinue the child support? or hold my former wife in contempt for not keeping me informed of my childs progress?
PS. Since I'm not the primary parent the school has refused to provide me with any information regarding my child.


Hopeless Dad

[kat1963]

You need to send the school district another letter quoting both state and federal laws. I would send this request by registered return reciept mail. I would send it to the school, attn: Principal and another one to Super. of the School.

Florida Statutes 61.13 (2)(b)3
Access to records and information pertaining to a minor child, including, but not limited to, medical, dental, and school records, may not be denied to a parent because the parent is not the child's primary residential parent. Full rights under this subparagraph apply to either parent unless a court order specifically revokes these rights, including any restrictions on these rights as provided in a domestic violence injunction. A parent having rights under this subparagraph has the same rights upon request as to form, substance, and manner of access as are available to the other parent of a child, including, without limitation, the right to in-person communication with medical, dental, and education providers.

FEPRA (Family Educational Privacy Rights Act)

Section 99.4: Sec. 99.4 What are the rights of parents? An educational agency or institution shall give full rights under the Act to either parent unless the agency or institution has been provided with evidence that there is a court order, state Statute, or legally binding document relating to such matters as divorce, separation, or custody, that specifically revokes these rights.

Since your first request was denied (enclose a copy of it), I would mention that if the do not respond in writting within 45 days, you will be making a complaint with the following agency.

U.S. Dept of Education
Family Policy Compliance Office
600 Independence Ave.
Wash. DC. 20202

As for child support, Florida states: Termination of support at 18, or at 19 if child will graduate from high school by that age. You should be able to see by her report card if she's still attending, and if she will graduate by 18 or 19. A few months before she turns of age, you need to file a motion to modify child support (in some states, call your local c/s/e office to see how it is terminated, some states do it automatically, yadda, yadda.

Hey, you can also consider filing a civil suit for alienation, rights violations *shrug* Hire a lawyer or research the entire thing and file it yourself......not sure if you'd get anywhere, guess it depends how really pissed off your are, but it sure would be nice to see her sweat it out!

KAT