Question Of Possession

[MISSYBEE]

What is the name of your state? TX
I will try to make this short. My 10 yr old daughter has a step mother. Court papers in family court state what she leaves with on visitation she is to come back with from visitation. Step mother has taken school clothes, shoes and lunch boxes from my daughter and will not give them back. I can only state my daughter took them to her house or she took them from my daughter while she was at school. My daughter is the only one that can say yes she took it to her house. that is my only proof. My small claims questions are this. When I take her to small claims court to sue her for the $ 200.00 worth of items not returned in according to the divorce court order. Will I get a a judgement against her or will the court tell me it is a family court matter and to go back their? Is it worth the paper trail and hassle of going through all this?

 

[BL]

What is the name of your state? TX
I will try to make this short. My 10 yr old daughter has a step mother. Court papers in family court state what she leaves with on visitation she is to come back with from visitation. Step mother has taken school clothes, shoes and lunch boxes from my daughter and will not give them back. I can only state my daughter took them to her house or she took them from my daughter while she was at school. My daughter is the only one that can say yes she took it to her house. that is my only proof. My small claims questions are this. When I take her to small claims court to sue her for the $ 200.00 worth of items not returned in according to the divorce court order. Will I get a a judgement against her or will the court tell me it is a family court matter and to go back their? Is it worth the paper trail and hassle of going through all this?

File in Family Court a contempt of Court Petition .

Hearsay by the Subject Child should be admissible , in your statements in the Petition .

 

[fairisfair]

No offense Blonde, but I have to believe that any judge would be livid at having a 10 year old child brought into court to testify over a lousy couple of hundred bucks of clothes.
Besides which step mom is not a party to the visitation order, so she would have to prove that Dad is the one not sending the things back.

OP, where is dad in this whole situation, isn't HE the one you should be dealing with?

 

[BL]

No offense Blonde, but I have to believe that any judge would be livid at having a 10 year old child brought into court to testify over a lousy couple of hundred bucks of clothes.
Besides which step mom is not a party to the visitation order, so she would have to prove that Dad is the one not sending the things back.

OP, where is dad in this whole situation, isn't HE the one you should be dealing with?

I did NOT say the child would/could testify . I said The CP could state what the child said happened ( hearsay ) in the contempt Petition , in addition to the Parents' complaint .

Of course a Judge isn't going to want the child to come in and physically testify .

And as long as the items aren't being returned , It's the other Parents responsibility under the Courts Orders .

No Offense taken . I knew this from experience though .

Of course it depends on that state's Laws about here say , but it would not hurt to add it in .