What is the name of your state?MS
Ok, those of you who remember me will remember this has been an ongoing situation with my husband's ex. We went to Court in 10/04, but while she agreed to everything on that day through her attorney, when it came to sign the Agreed Order of Modification, she refused and has since been a real pain in the butt, and we are back to Court on April 1st (April Fool's Day, kind of appropriate, don't cha think?). Anyway, my husband's attorney has said that we have a 2 hour block with the judge to present all that we have. Here are a few questions, if you will please help:
1. Are we supposed to present the documentation for the last 4 years in 2 hours? Or do we need to present just since the last court visit? A lot of the documentation was not presented the last time.
2. My husband's attorney said that my mother in law is to testify as to what she was told via phone calls by the ex and also what she has been told by my stepdaughter, ex: At Christmas she said that her mother has had to take my stepdaughter and the new baby and go to stay overnight with a relative due to the ex's husband's temper. He even punched the top of a glass top table and broke it because her mother "moved it without asking his permission." How does that need to be presented? We hate to tell everything his daughter has told us (she's 11, by the way) and make her feel she can not trust us.
3. Her mother is a teacher and she attended the school where her mother taught. It goes up to the 8th grade. My husband got a note from his ex last week that stated that on the 21st of March, my stepdaughter would be attending a new school because in her "professional opinion their daughter will receive a more challenging education". Here's the kicker: there's only 9 weeks of school left, and the new school only goes to the 5th grade, which she's in, and then next year she will have to change schools again! My husband asked that the principal from the old school be subpoenaed because my stepdaughter told us that the reason her mother transferred is because "Mama almost got fired and I had to go to another school". The attorney has not contacted us yet. How do we handle this in court?
4. I have to testify to all the crap she's pulled with me, e.g.: slapped me on the arm for not saying "thank you" when she handed me some socks, calling my children names when they went to their stepsister's soccer games, etc. I also have to testify to stuff I've been told by my stepdaughter, like that her stepfather calls her an "unappreciative spoiled brat", "stupid", and that her stepfather makes her feel like she's "in the way" and that her mother and stepfather argue and "fuss" all the time and that she has to hide in her room sometimes. My question is, how much of all of this will the judge want to hear?
There's a lot of stuff; we have her on tape telling my husband to "shut the hell up" when he called to find out when his daughter had a ball game, and saying that she was "the only real parent" their daughter has.
Thanks for your advice and/or opinion.
Ok, those of you who remember me will remember this has been an ongoing situation with my husband's ex. We went to Court in 10/04, but while she agreed to everything on that day through her attorney, when it came to sign the Agreed Order of Modification, she refused and has since been a real pain in the butt, and we are back to Court on April 1st (April Fool's Day, kind of appropriate, don't cha think?). Anyway, my husband's attorney has said that we have a 2 hour block with the judge to present all that we have. Here are a few questions, if you will please help:
1. Are we supposed to present the documentation for the last 4 years in 2 hours? Or do we need to present just since the last court visit? A lot of the documentation was not presented the last time.
2. My husband's attorney said that my mother in law is to testify as to what she was told via phone calls by the ex and also what she has been told by my stepdaughter, ex: At Christmas she said that her mother has had to take my stepdaughter and the new baby and go to stay overnight with a relative due to the ex's husband's temper. He even punched the top of a glass top table and broke it because her mother "moved it without asking his permission." How does that need to be presented? We hate to tell everything his daughter has told us (she's 11, by the way) and make her feel she can not trust us.
3. Her mother is a teacher and she attended the school where her mother taught. It goes up to the 8th grade. My husband got a note from his ex last week that stated that on the 21st of March, my stepdaughter would be attending a new school because in her "professional opinion their daughter will receive a more challenging education". Here's the kicker: there's only 9 weeks of school left, and the new school only goes to the 5th grade, which she's in, and then next year she will have to change schools again! My husband asked that the principal from the old school be subpoenaed because my stepdaughter told us that the reason her mother transferred is because "Mama almost got fired and I had to go to another school". The attorney has not contacted us yet. How do we handle this in court?
4. I have to testify to all the crap she's pulled with me, e.g.: slapped me on the arm for not saying "thank you" when she handed me some socks, calling my children names when they went to their stepsister's soccer games, etc. I also have to testify to stuff I've been told by my stepdaughter, like that her stepfather calls her an "unappreciative spoiled brat", "stupid", and that her stepfather makes her feel like she's "in the way" and that her mother and stepfather argue and "fuss" all the time and that she has to hide in her room sometimes. My question is, how much of all of this will the judge want to hear?
There's a lot of stuff; we have her on tape telling my husband to "shut the hell up" when he called to find out when his daughter had a ball game, and saying that she was "the only real parent" their daughter has.
Thanks for your advice and/or opinion.