wornOUTinMD
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland
My ex and I made a "parenting agreement" in regards to custody of our children. When it was presented in court, the Judge asked if we had any changes, and if so, to do so at the moment before he ruled. I had some changes and submitted them... my ex, however, stated that he didn't agree with my changes but "whatever I said was fine" and the judge closed our case, ruling that the parenting agreement was to be followed by both parents.
We received the "official papers" that the ruling was effective a few days later. My ex has now decided that he doesn't want to follow the agreement. In short the court order is: I have custody of our children Monday through Friday afternoon @ 330pm. Dad has them from Friday 330pm until Monday morning, and only for that time period. Dad has recently lost his job, so he tells me that he wants to be a parent for a little while. His new activity is popping up randomly at the babysitters to pick up the kids without notice (we also agreed to give the other parent a reasonable amount of time for a heads up, if the schedule is to change - in our agreement)... He may call me after he's already picked them up.. or if he even decides to call. The only way that I found this out is, he told the kids ahead of time that he was going to start doing this.. and the kids repeated this to the babysitter. The babysitter, then, mentioned this to me. When I try to contact Dad, he is always unavailable or won't accept phone calls/emails unless he is the parent who needs something. I spoke to the Pro Se office at the Anne Arundel County Courthouse, and the person I spoke to advised me to file a "contempt" paper as to Dad violating the court enforced agreement...
My question is: Is this true - can I file for contempt? And if so, how long does this take? In a nutshell, all of my paperwork for child custody and support has gone ignored. The Pro Se office has informed me that my file is missing papers, missing rulings, etc. I am very frustrated with this, in addition to dealing with a Dad who parents when it is convenient - child support papers were never filed (even though I paid for them and they date-stamped them!); the judge only ruled on the parenting agreement, but not on custody and child support - what can I do, or what am I supposed to do now?
My ex and I made a "parenting agreement" in regards to custody of our children. When it was presented in court, the Judge asked if we had any changes, and if so, to do so at the moment before he ruled. I had some changes and submitted them... my ex, however, stated that he didn't agree with my changes but "whatever I said was fine" and the judge closed our case, ruling that the parenting agreement was to be followed by both parents.
We received the "official papers" that the ruling was effective a few days later. My ex has now decided that he doesn't want to follow the agreement. In short the court order is: I have custody of our children Monday through Friday afternoon @ 330pm. Dad has them from Friday 330pm until Monday morning, and only for that time period. Dad has recently lost his job, so he tells me that he wants to be a parent for a little while. His new activity is popping up randomly at the babysitters to pick up the kids without notice (we also agreed to give the other parent a reasonable amount of time for a heads up, if the schedule is to change - in our agreement)... He may call me after he's already picked them up.. or if he even decides to call. The only way that I found this out is, he told the kids ahead of time that he was going to start doing this.. and the kids repeated this to the babysitter. The babysitter, then, mentioned this to me. When I try to contact Dad, he is always unavailable or won't accept phone calls/emails unless he is the parent who needs something. I spoke to the Pro Se office at the Anne Arundel County Courthouse, and the person I spoke to advised me to file a "contempt" paper as to Dad violating the court enforced agreement...
My question is: Is this true - can I file for contempt? And if so, how long does this take? In a nutshell, all of my paperwork for child custody and support has gone ignored. The Pro Se office has informed me that my file is missing papers, missing rulings, etc. I am very frustrated with this, in addition to dealing with a Dad who parents when it is convenient - child support papers were never filed (even though I paid for them and they date-stamped them!); the judge only ruled on the parenting agreement, but not on custody and child support - what can I do, or what am I supposed to do now?