not served with summons?

[Rowan602]

What is the name of your state? Colorado, El Paso County

On Saturday, Oct. 21, I was served with a petition for allocation of parental responsibilities. With the paperwork, there was the standard court order issued to all parents, and a blank financial affadavit for me to fill out and submit. There was no summons, nor did my ex's attorney file a notice to set status hearing. There was also no financial affadavit filled out by my ex. I've been to legal aid, and a paralegal there is helping me, but there are some questions that she doesn't have answers to, and the managing attorney is out of town for a couple of weeks.

There are several things that are not on the petition that should be. I have a permanent protection order against my ex, and this is not listed anywhere on there, not even under the question that specifically asks if there are any restraining orders in place. Nowhere in any of the paperwork does it state what exactly he is asking for, or why. the question asking why the petitioner feels it would be in the best interests of the child for parental responsibility to be allocated to him is blank.

Also, the lack of summons is confusing me. It was not with the papers served on me, and I figured that maybe the process server just forgot it, but then I received the mailed copies directly from the attorney's office, and it wasn't in that paperwork either.

I've filed a response, a petition for waiver of fees, and the mediation order. It doesn't make any sense that he's doing this, as he actually sees my daughter more than I do. She lives with me, but he has every other weekend, from 6 pm on Friday to 6 pm on Sunday. We've always shared holidays. Since my daughter started school and weeknight visits are no longer feasible, due to the fact that he lives on the far north side of town and i live on the very south edge of town, I have been letting her go visit him for an overnight on what is supposed to be my weekend. So there is no history of my refusing parenting time to him. There is, however, a history of domestic violence committed by him, as well as a history of him threatening to sue for custody or reporting me to DHS for neglect (all determined unfounded) every time i didn't do exactly what he wanted.

So here are my questions:
1. Can I use the fact that my ex apparently did not disclose the existence of the PPO against him?
2. Is there anything I can do to find out exactly what it is that my ex is wanting? His attorney hasn't called me back yet, and it's been almost 2 weeks.
3. Does the lack of summons cause a problem? I asked the paralegal, and she said she didn't know. But given that the summons is the paper that tells me what I'm supposed to do and how long I have to do it, it's pretty important. The only reason I even knew what to do was because legal aid is helping me.
4. Can I refuse to turn in the financial affadavit until he has turned his in? He's done this before, and I turned over my financial information, which he then used against me, and he never turned his in. Instead, he brought a letter from his new employer stating how much he made. I have since found out that his employer lied on that paper. He is currently paying about $300 less per month in CS than he should be, because of this.

My ex tried to pull all of the same stunts in both the PPO hearing and the child support hearings, and did not get away with it then. I'm wondering if he'll be able to get away with it now. He tends to only disclose things that will make me look bad or him look good, and then plays dumb when things that make him look bad are disclosed. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rowan

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? Colorado, El Paso County

On Saturday, Oct. 21, I was served with a petition for allocation of parental responsibilities. With the paperwork, there was the standard court order issued to all parents, and a blank financial affadavit for me to fill out and submit. There was no summons, nor did my ex's attorney file a notice to set status hearing. There was also no financial affadavit filled out by my ex. I've been to legal aid, and a paralegal there is helping me, but there are some questions that she doesn't have answers to, and the managing attorney is out of town for a couple of weeks.

There are several things that are not on the petition that should be. I have a permanent protection order against my ex, and this is not listed anywhere on there, not even under the question that specifically asks if there are any restraining orders in place. Nowhere in any of the paperwork does it state what exactly he is asking for, or why. the question asking why the petitioner feels it would be in the best interests of the child for parental responsibility to be allocated to him is blank.

Also, the lack of summons is confusing me. It was not with the papers served on me, and I figured that maybe the process server just forgot it, but then I received the mailed copies directly from the attorney's office, and it wasn't in that paperwork either.

I've filed a response, a petition for waiver of fees, and the mediation order. It doesn't make any sense that he's doing this, as he actually sees my daughter more than I do. She lives with me, but he has every other weekend, from 6 pm on Friday to 6 pm on Sunday. We've always shared holidays. Since my daughter started school and weeknight visits are no longer feasible, due to the fact that he lives on the far north side of town and i live on the very south edge of town, I have been letting her go visit him for an overnight on what is supposed to be my weekend. So there is no history of my refusing parenting time to him. There is, however, a history of domestic violence committed by him, as well as a history of him threatening to sue for custody or reporting me to DHS for neglect (all determined unfounded) every time i didn't do exactly what he wanted.

So here are my questions:
1. Can I use the fact that my ex apparently did not disclose the existence of the PPO against him?
2. Is there anything I can do to find out exactly what it is that my ex is wanting? His attorney hasn't called me back yet, and it's been almost 2 weeks.
3. Does the lack of summons cause a problem? I asked the paralegal, and she said she didn't know. But given that the summons is the paper that tells me what I'm supposed to do and how long I have to do it, it's pretty important. The only reason I even knew what to do was because legal aid is helping me.
4. Can I refuse to turn in the financial affadavit until he has turned his in? He's done this before, and I turned over my financial information, which he then used against me, and he never turned his in. Instead, he brought a letter from his new employer stating how much he made. I have since found out that his employer lied on that paper. He is currently paying about $300 less per month in CS than he should be, because of this.

My ex tried to pull all of the same stunts in both the PPO hearing and the child support hearings, and did not get away with it then. I'm wondering if he'll be able to get away with it now. He tends to only disclose things that will make me look bad or him look good, and then plays dumb when things that make him look bad are disclosed. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rowan

Go down to the courthouse and look at the file. Make sure that there was not a summons issued that the process server conveniently left out. You don't want the hassle of having to undo a default order.

Make sure that you include in your response paperwork the information about the PPO and anything else that he left out, that is relevant. Tell his attorney that you will be happy to drop your financial information at his office, as long as you can pick up your ex's financial information, and NOT a letter from his employer, at the same time.

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: Does the lack of summons cause a problem?

A: No. Once you filed your response, that took care of any irregularities (if any) in the service.

 

[Rowan602]

response

LdiJ,

THanks for the quick response! I did go the courthouse records room on Monday the 23 to look at that file, and to make sure that the Restraining order was still in effect. The only thing in the file for the petition he filed was the petition. there was nothing else, not even a copy of the proof of service.The information about the PPO was placed in the response, as well as the fact that she has lived with me since birth, and that I have been extremely accommadating regarding parenting time for him.

Thanks for the advice about the financial affadavit, that's what I'll do.

Any other ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated, and I'll keep you guys posted!!

Thanks,
Rowan

 

[Rowan602]

reply to seniorjudge

Thanks, that's what I figured. Any ideas on the best way to deal with any irregularities in paperwork filed and served to me in the future? Also, is there any additional information that you guys need to respond to the other question, about finding out what he's asking for? Is it safe to assume that, since it's blank, he's wasking for full custody?

Thanks!
Rowan

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: Any ideas on the best way to deal with any irregularities in paperwork filed and served to me in the future?

A: In your response, state, (along with everything else you want to say), "Here are irregularities in paperwork filed and served to me: [fill in the blanks]."

 

[LdiJ]

Thanks, that's what I figured. Any ideas on the best way to deal with any irregularities in paperwork filed and served to me in the future? Also, is there any additional information that you guys need to respond to the other question, about finding out what he's asking for? Is it safe to assume that, since it's blank, he's wasking for full custody?

Thanks!
Rowan

I wouldn't necessarily assume that. Its probable that he is after that, but you can't be certain. Let him clarify things in court. I wouldn't get too worried about the whole thing. Unless there is some major change in circumstance he isn't likely to get very far with this.
If there are any major changes in circumstance, then it might be wise to at least get a consult with an attorney.

 

[Rowan602]

responses

seniorjudge,

Thanks for the responses! That helps quite a bit to figure things out.

LdiJ,

The only major change in circumstances is the moves both of us recently made, myself from the central part of town to the south, which was planned before he moved, and his move to the north side of town. He may have bought the house before I told him I was moving, but he moved to an area that he knew I would not be able to afford to live in, so he can't state that I purposely moved farther away. I spent two months searching for something in my price range in the area that I was in, and came up with nothing, so I had to look a bit farther afield. And we're still in the same city.

He's probably going to claim that I am abusive, which he has tried many times before, to no avail. So far he's had me followed, hacked my personal webpage, and made his wife delete her webpage that had pictures of our daughter all over it stating that she was her daughter (and this is all within the first three days after I got served). Luckily, I managed to save a copy of her webpage on my own computer before it got deleted, so I'll have that if I need it.

Anyhow, thanks for the advice and ideas, both of you, I really appreciate it!

Rowan

 

[Rowan602]

CFI questions

Still in Colorado...
Ok, so several weeks go by, and I received some paperwork in the mail today. The first piece of paper in there is a notice of the date of the status hearing. The second is a request for a CFI (Child & Family Investigator) to be assigned to the case, stating that my ex and his attorney have already chosen the CFI and paid her retainer fee. The third is an order for the CFI to be retained, stating how and when we must contact her, and that I'm to pay half of her $125 hourly fee. I'm a little bit curious about that part. If I'm to pay half of this woman's fee, shouldn't I have at least some input as to who this person will be? Why should I pay for something that my ex requested and that is not needed. I'm assuming they did this because he's going to claim abuse on my part as his reason for wanting custody. He's tried this several times before and it's come to nothing because I do not now, nor have I ever, abused my daughter.

I also have some concerns about his choice of CFI. I did a search, and found several articles about experiences with her, and none of them were positive. She seems to be extremely biased towards the parent that hires her. In one case she spent 2 1/2 hours at the home of the father (who hired her), and after 15 minutes at the mother's home, said she had to leave so she wouldn't be late to her exercise class. Her master's is in gerontology, and I guess she has a B.A. in counseling. She is listed as a Christian marriage counselor in her yellow page advertisement. Every single bio that I found stated how she was CHristian and a leader in her church. Now, don't get me wrong, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being Christian if that's what works for someone, but I'm not Christian. Given that all of her bios focus heavily on her religious activities, I'm wondering if this will bias her against me. If she asks me whether I go to church or what my religion is, can I refuse to answer? I'm also concerned that she may have a connection to my ex through his mother, who worked in the court system for many years before she was terminated last year for accessing confidential files (my file, to be exact). If that's the case, she'll definitely be biased against me. If I am able to find proof of this, can I cite conflict of interest to have her removed and find a more suitable candidate?

I plan on trying to get a GAL for my daughter, and I have other plans that I won't discuss here as my ex has absolutely no compunction whatsoever about invading my privacy and hacking my computer. Is there anything else that I need to do before the hearing, besides contacting the CFI? Am I able to file an official objection to that particular CFI? What happens at a status hearing? I know that parenting time and decision making responsibility will not be determined at that time, but will the CFI present her report at that time? Any other ideas or advice?

Anything anybody has would be a huge help.

THanks,
Rowan

 

[stealth2]

In all honesty? Things look like they could get nasty pretty quick - I wouldn't hazard handling this without an attorney.

 

[LdiJ]

In all honesty? Things look like they could get nasty pretty quick - I wouldn't hazard handling this without an attorney.

I agree...the way that they are handling things now indicates that you really need an attorney.

 

[Rowan602]

thanks...

That's what I figured. Legal aid is helping me out, but they've basically said the the attorney who handles family law is too busy to take my case, so I can talk to the family law paralegal and she'll help me fill out forms and get papers ready to file. That was before all this happened, so I'm hoping that when I call with this information, they'll have the attorney take over the case, deciding that it's necessary. If not, my (WONDERFUL) Mom has said that she'll pay for an attorney. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that because she's able to afford it a little better than me, but not by much. Just out of curiosity, if I do end up retaining a lawyer, can I request that he pay my attorney fees? Given the fact that this is not an expense I would have incurred, had he not filed all this?

Thanks again,
Rowan

 

[ceara19]

That's what I figured. Legal aid is helping me out, but they've basically said the the attorney who handles family law is too busy to take my case, so I can talk to the family law paralegal and she'll help me fill out forms and get papers ready to file. That was before all this happened, so I'm hoping that when I call with this information, they'll have the attorney take over the case, deciding that it's necessary. If not, my (WONDERFUL) Mom has said that she'll pay for an attorney. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that because she's able to afford it a little better than me, but not by much. Just out of curiosity, if I do end up retaining a lawyer, can I request that he pay my attorney fees? Given the fact that this is not an expense I would have incurred, had he not filed all this?

Thanks again,
Rowan

Hiring your own attorney is always the better option. Even IF the legal aid attorney takes the case, they are already overloaded and typically only have the time and resources to do a minimal amount of work on each case.

You can ASK that he be ordered to pay your attorney fees, but I wouldn't count on being reimbursed.