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Daughter's father in prison.now wants parenting time

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Jcolon515

Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FL

I am trying to find out if my daughter's father who is incarcerated in the state of michigan sent a motion and order to show cause to the michigan courts. He is saying that i'm in contempt of court because an order that was put in place in 1999 (of which he did not abide to) was not being followed. I have been living in Florida since 2001. In 2001 after he was incarcerated and put away for 80 years I moved here.

He has communicated with his daughter off and on. Recently he started making her feel very uncomfortable and calling my cell phone non stop. I started ignoring his calls and my daughter refuses to write him right now.

I then recieve these papers in the mail where he typed in my social security number into and its the motion and order to show cause stating that he wants parenting time to be established and that i violated the order in 99 by leaving the domicile of michigan. He sent this via regular mail. I was not served. And furthermore the attached sheet that is proof of service, he checked off the "officer certificate" stating that he certifies he's a sheriff, bailiff or court appointed person etc" and signs it?? Is this even valid?

I'm wondering at this point what I should do. Obviously I don't have money for an atty nor do i have money to fly to michigan at this time. I am trying to get a hold of someone at the courthouse to see if this document was even filed with them.
 


TinkerBelleLuvr

Senior Member
Have you tried contacting the clerk's office for your county up there? An other option is to send a fax to your case worker in FOC.

I take it HE is still in jail?
 

TheGeekess

Keeper of the Kraken
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FL

I am trying to find out if my daughter's father who is incarcerated in the state of michigan sent a motion and order to show cause to the michigan courts. He is saying that i'm in contempt of court because an order that was put in place in 1999 (of which he did not abide to) was not being followed. I have been living in Florida since 2001. In 2001 after he was incarcerated and put away for 80 years I moved here.
Have you tried contacting the clerk's office for your county up there? An other option is to send a fax to your case worker in FOC.

I take it HE is still in jail?
Looks like Ex is (still) in prison, as opposed to jail.
:cool:
 

Some Random Guy

Senior Member
What does your court order for visitaiton say?

It can certainly be argued that your move in 2001 was not objected to by him in a timely manner. But that depends on your original court order. You may need to get a lawyer in MI to argue for a change in the visitation agreement based on the conviction.

However, he is still the father and still have legal rights. You have been actively preventing him ANY contact with his child and that may be looked down upon by the court.

And obviously he didn't fill out the form correctly, but you can't argue that you were not served with the papers as you hold them in your hand and complain about the formatting. You need to know what is filed with the court and what the deadline is for responding.
 

mommyof4

Senior Member
Looks like Ex is (still) in prison, as opposed to jail.
:cool:
And as his sentence is for 80 years (essentially life unless he lives a long, long, long time....) we can surmise this conviction isn't for a bad check.

OP, contact the clerk of court to find out if anything has actually been filed. Honestly, from what you posted, it doesn't sound like it. However, it will be much better for you to know what is really going on.
 

Silverplum

Senior Member
You have a clear-cut case to terminate his parental rights, IMO. See here:

http://library.adoption.com/articles/grounds-for-termination-of-parental-rights-michigan.html

More here:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/groundtermin.cfm

If he's going to be in prison for 80 years, I see no point in playing games.
 

TinkerBelleLuvr

Senior Member
Pull out that court order and write what it says.

If it's a standard court order, then HE is probably supposed to pick up the child. Jail does get in the way of it. Secondly, chances are that there is NOTHING about PHONE CALLS. If that's the case, then you wouldn't be in contempt of court.
 

Jcolon515

Member
thank you all!

I did get a hold of the friend of the court!! THANK GOD..they told me that the case was closed in 2008. There is no type of order in effect.

Yes he is still in prison. I am definitely looking into terminating his legal rights as he does not support not help the situation his daughter.

The lady at the courthouse told me the only thing he could do is try to reopen the case there which would mean that he would have to file evrything all over again.

I tried for many years to get him to stay in contact and so forth, but if he's making my daughter who is now 11 feel uncomforable by asking her about what IM doing not what she's doing and just asking about my household, i think its time for us to just let him stay away from us.

Def not in jail for a bad check. He's in there for a double homicide! Think that would be reason enough for us to want to stay away!

ya think?
 

Jcolon515

Member
thankyou!! i'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope this goes thru.

as far as sole custody, im not even sure what we have as that was in 99 and the case is now closed. how do i even begin to try and find out:
 

Jcolon515

Member
quick question

does anyone know how do i start the process of terminating his parenal rights? is there a form that i can obtain from somewhere and file???
 

mommyof4

Senior Member
does anyone know how do i start the process of terminating his parenal rights? is there a form that i can obtain from somewhere and file???

Seriously, the first thing you need to do is consult a good atty. This is not a DIY project and worth every penny you spend to get it done right.
 

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