PAS in Michigan courts?

[randomdancing]

Who filed contempt first? If you were in contempt for not following through with the therapy and then mom stopped visits, you may get nowhere with your contempt. While mom is suppose to also follow the court order, there are a few circumstances in Mi where the court will hear why one denies visitation and allow it.

You moved, you created the distance and its pretty much standard that the court will make you do all the transportation. Do you have joint legal custody? Because if you did when you moved, then FOC told you crap. In Mi when an order has joint legal custody, the child has 2 home addresses, and both parents must get the others permission to move or the courts. I would stop listening to FOC, they are not suppose to give out legal advice, they are there to enforce the written order, hear motions, make recommendations. They can't give out legal advice, they can't make orders, they can only make recommendations when one motions the court. Those recommendations can be objected to by either party, and then the motion will be heard by the Judge assigned to the case. Often Judges go against the recommendations made by FOC or Refs. If your going to keep calling FOC then I advise you to see if your county has what they call a parenting time coordinator(might have a different name)in their FOC office, this persons job is to help NCP's with issues, they are much more likely to help you and give you correct information then any of the caseworkers.

You need to go get your kid, if mom is not there with the kid, then you call the police and get a police report, it will also be helpful if you stopped at a nearby store to the pick up spot and purchase something, saving the receipt. You save up a couple of these no shows, file contempt and attach the police reports and/or receipts showing you were there and she was not. You do not need to go through FOC, added step, that takes more time, however it's free to go through them to enforce the order. You can file directly with the Circuit Court of the county your case is in, however you will pay a filing fee. The fees can be found on your Circuit Court website or by calling the Circuit Courts Clerk's office. They vary between counties and between different motions, usually ranging between $40 and $100.

It's far faster to file directly with Circuit Court then FOC, and you skip the added step of FOC, you get a hearing with a Ref. If you go through FOC they will first contact the other parent with the allegations, then they will decide if your complaint has merit, if so then can do 2 things. Make a decision or hold a hearing. Either way they do it, both parties have the right to object and go before a Ref or Judge. Depends on the court sometimes you skip the Ref, sometimes not. Either way it does take time, how much just depends on what county your in, mine is very fast, you can get a hearing in a week, others take a couple of months. There are few that take longer then 4 months to get a hearing in Mi. Some FOC's are faster then others, mine is fast, but still slow compared to just filing directly with the Circuit Court.

That's how you do it when your dealing with a parent who is denying you time. You follow the order, you show for pick ups and if they don't show you get proof that you were there and they were not and then you file contempt. If you follow this, eventually the court will do more then hand slap mom if she continues to deny you your time.

I filed contempt on her. She did not file against me. FOC did. She tried to file contempt on me for missing a visit (when the transmission went out on my vehicle at the last min) I think that is when FOC looked into it and realized I hadn't been going to therapy.

I figured that much. But I also thought, if she is not cooperating, they may be willing to make her do half of it.

I do not have any form of custody. she has sole custody and I have parenting time.

The police in our county will not dispatch an officer for family law orders, but they do keep record of my phone calls. and this last visit my ex called the cops on me because i was sitting in my car in the road in front of her house, on the phone with the police.

it will also be helpful if you stopped at a nearby store to the pick up spot and purchase something, saving the receipt. this is such great advice. i wish i would have thought of it before!! i will certainly do this from now on. as for the past, i do have records of using my debit card at local gas stations, would that suffice?

what exactly should i file with circut court? so far i have been filling out complaint forms and faxing them to FOC each time she denies a visit. if i went through circut court, what form would i need?

 

[Silverplum]

as for the past, i do have records of using my debit card at local gas stations, would that suffice?

Yes, if it has a date/time stamp to show you were in the nearby area when you were to pick up your child and were denied your scheduled parenting time.

 

[gam]

I filed contempt on her. She did not file against me. FOC did. She tried to file contempt on me for missing a visit (when the transmission went out on my vehicle at the last min) I think that is when FOC looked into it and realized I hadn't been going to therapy.

I figured that much. But I also thought, if she is not cooperating, they may be willing to make her do half of it.

I do not have any form of custody. she has sole custody and I have parenting time.

The police in our county will not dispatch an officer for family law orders, but they do keep record of my phone calls. and this last visit my ex called the cops on me because i was sitting in my car in the road in front of her house, on the phone with the police.

it will also be helpful if you stopped at a nearby store to the pick up spot and purchase something, saving the receipt. this is such great advice. i wish i would have thought of it before!! i will certainly do this from now on. as for the past, i do have records of using my debit card at local gas stations, would that suffice?

what exactly should i file with circut court? so far i have been filling out complaint forms and faxing them to FOC each time she denies a visit. if i went through circut court, what form would i need?

When you get proof and you actually start filing and winning contempts on her, that is when you will have a shot at getting her to do half of transportation. Ya never know you might get lucky and get this changed right off the bat to, it all depends on the Court, the Ref or Judge and their mood of the day, but it normally would take a couple verified contempts.

I would ask the court when you go for this contempt hearing to order that both parties must get receipts. Even if they don't order it yet, you get receipts and every time you have a contempt hearing, you ask again to have it put in that both parties get receipts. Really cuts down on the he said/she said. My Niece did this because her ex never showed up and when they went to court on his contempt, he had no proof, and she had all the receipts of being there. Now it's ordered that both get receipts for all drop offs and pick ups, and without those receipts they are screwed if they try and file contempt on the only one. My Niece always gets a receipt her ex never does and he has been found in contempt numerous times. They took away some of his parenting time for his failure to show up for his time. They have to do exchanges at a public place(domestic violence), the public place got moved right by her home, so now he does all the transportation, it's an hour drive for him each way, because he fails to show up. His mistake as she is the one who moved and she was the one the court order to do all the driving.

Take anything you already have, including phone records and receipts from your debit card.

Try the following form, not sure if it will work, some of the circuit courts have their own forms. However if you try to file with this form, the circuit court clerks office will tell you if you need another one and point to where they keep them. They all the forms somewhere in their office. Look your circuit court up online and see if they have forms available online.

http://courts.mi.gov/Administration/SCAO/Forms/courtforms/domesticrelations/custody-parentingtime/foc19.pdf

The difference in time is huge. My court is most likely the fastest in Mi, takes a week to get a hearing on parenting time/custody and 2 weeks to get a hearing on child support, if you file directly with the Circuit Court. My FOC is probably one of the best in the state as far as doing their job, but it can take 3-4 months for them to hold a hearing on a complaint. Other courts around me take longer then my court, however they all are much faster if you file directly with the Circuit Court, instead of going through FOC. Minor things you go through FOC, but when one is not getting their time or their child support, then you go directly through the Circuit Court.

 

[randomdancing]

When you get proof and you actually start filing and winning contempts on her, that is when you will have a shot at getting her to do half of transportation. Ya never know you might get lucky and get this changed right off the bat to, it all depends on the Court, the Ref or Judge and their mood of the day, but it normally would take a couple verified contempts.

I would ask the court when you go for this contempt hearing to order that both parties must get receipts. Even if they don't order it yet, you get receipts and every time you have a contempt hearing, you ask again to have it put in that both parties get receipts. Really cuts down on the he said/she said. My Niece did this because her ex never showed up and when they went to court on his contempt, he had no proof, and she had all the receipts of being there. Now it's ordered that both get receipts for all drop offs and pick ups, and without those receipts they are screwed if they try and file contempt on the only one. My Niece always gets a receipt her ex never does and he has been found in contempt numerous times. They took away some of his parenting time for his failure to show up for his time. They have to do exchanges at a public place(domestic violence), the public place got moved right by her home, so now he does all the transportation, it's an hour drive for him each way, because he fails to show up. His mistake as she is the one who moved and she was the one the court order to do all the driving.

Take anything you already have, including phone records and receipts from your debit card.

Try the following form, not sure if it will work, some of the circuit courts have their own forms. However if you try to file with this form, the circuit court clerks office will tell you if you need another one and point to where they keep them. They all the forms somewhere in their office. Look your circuit court up online and see if they have forms available online.

http://courts.mi.gov/Administration/SCAO/Forms/courtforms/domesticrelations/custody-parentingtime/foc19.pdf

The difference in time is huge. My court is most likely the fastest in Mi, takes a week to get a hearing on parenting time/custody and 2 weeks to get a hearing on child support, if you file directly with the Circuit Court. My FOC is probably one of the best in the state as far as doing their job, but it can take 3-4 months for them to hold a hearing on a complaint. Other courts around me take longer then my court, however they all are much faster if you file directly with the Circuit Court, instead of going through FOC. Minor things you go through FOC, but when one is not getting their time or their child support, then you go directly through the Circuit Court.

thank you so much for this. especially that link to the form! I've bookmarked it. Because we all know I will need it again in the near future!

 

[randomdancing]

Another question!!!

My ex just blurted out that a friend of hers wrote a letter to the court saying that she (the friend) used to live with me and my wife and that we are verbally abusive to my son!!

This is 100% false. The girl has only been to my home a handful of times and not once when my son was there.

What can I do to protect myself against her accusations?

 

[ecmst12]

Object to the letter being introduced as evidence since it is not admissible. If her friend tries to testify, you can cross examine her.

 

[randomdancing]

I haven't seen the letter yet. We have a court hearing in 2 weeks. They may bring it up then. Do I just have to wait until then? Can I go after that girl for slander or libel?

I only know about it because my ex blurts out all her plans against me.

 

[randomdancing]

I didn't see the part where you said it's not admissible.

If she wrote it as an affidavit would it be? Or can I just object in court and call it hearsay and move on?

 

[ecmst12]

You can't cross examine an affidavit, so it's not admissible. DO NOT worry about anything that happens outside of the courtroom. She can write all the letters she wants, won't do her any good in court so not worth getting upset about. Just know that if she tries to present it in court, you need to object.

 

[randomdancing]

you can't cross examine an affidavit, so it's not admissible. Do not worry about anything that happens outside of the courtroom. She can write all the letters she wants, won't do her any good in court so not worth getting upset about. Just know that if she tries to present it in court, you need to object.

thank you!!