Denying visitations

[Mariazh22]

New York.
What can i do if i am afraid to put child in danger for visitations with his father? I have sole custody and he has visitations every other weekend.I' m afraid his mental health got worse and he is not in compliance with medication and i dont want to bring child for visits. We have court hearing for custody modification to make visits supervised in 2 month, so before that i should continie bringing child to him as the current court order says. But i think it is dangerous for child to do so.

 

[CdwJava]

What state are you in?

 

[Mariazh22]

NY

 

[Just Blue]

New York.
What can i do if i am afraid to put child in danger for visitations with his father? I have sole custody and he has visitations every other weekend.I' m afraid his mental health got worse and he is not in compliance with medication and i dont want to bring child for visits. We have court hearing for custody modification to make visits supervised in 2 month, so before that i should continie bringing child to him as the current court order says. But i think it is dangerous for child to do so.

Do you have an attorney?

 

[Mariazh22]

Not yet

 

[not2cleverRed]

What kind of medications are we talking about? How old is the child? Has he been a danger to a child in the past?

Is there anything in your current court order addressing this issue?

 

[Mariazh22]

He is taking antidepressants. He had ACS neglect case before. In current order there is nothing about his medications because his therapist provided judge with a letter saying that he has no concerns about him having child on visitations and that he has major depression but in compliance with medication and stable. It was 5 month ago. Child is 2 year old and i live in NY. So now i'm worrying about child spending time with him without any supervision because i've noticed change in his mental health.

 

[not2cleverRed]

I would be worried in your shoes as well.

One the one hand, you want to protect your child. On the other hand, you don't want to put yourself in a situation when Dad could complain to the court that you're withholding visitation, and have a judge fixate on that and change custody.

Given the age of the child, and his past neglect case, if I truly felt the child would be in danger, I'd do what I had to in order to keep the child safe. A 2 year old is far more vulnerable than a 12 year old.

Whatever you do, make sure that you document what happened, when, and how you tried to communicate with Dad to work things out. Do try to get a consult with a lawyer in your area before you deny visitation.

 

[t74]

New York.
What can i do if i am afraid to put child in danger for visitations with his father? I have sole custody and he has visitations every other weekend.I' m afraid his mental health got worse and he is not in compliance with medication and i dont want to bring child for visits. We have court hearing for custody modification to make visits supervised in 2 month, so before that i should continie bringing child to him as the current court order says. But i think it is dangerous for child to do so.

How do you know this? When did it become a concern? Certainly not just today.

Since it is Mother's Day weekend, the child likely is with you. See an attorney on Mon about emergency orders.

 

[Mariazh22]

Child is not with me this weekend as he has him every other weekend, and he is very uncooperative about changing visit days or anything. It became a concern about a month ago when i filed for custody modification, but gets worser and worser. Can emergency order be heared in front of judge on the same day as i file without him being present? Or he will have to be served?

 

[Mariazh22]

I guess he is not taking medications properly because he said me he don't need it, that he was taking it only for the case. And according to change in his behaviour.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Child is not with me this weekend as he has him every other weekend, and he is very uncooperative about changing visit days or anything. It became a concern about a month ago when i filed for custody modification, but gets worser and worser. Can emergency order be heared in front of judge on the same day as i file without him being present? Or he will have to be served?

FYI: Holidays trump the regular visitation schedule.

It's pretty standard when there's a Mom and Dad for Mom to get Mother's Day and Dad to get Father's Day - regardless of whose weekend it is. You could have denied Dad visitation today. That said, this is one of the things that you can tally on what/when happened. If it not explicitly in your order already, along with other holidays, then this should be addressed in a modification.

If the emergency is dire enough, then yes and emergency petition can be ex parte. However, that would only be temporary until the other party is served and given the opportunity to respond and defend themselves. Additionally, if you succeed in getting an emergency temporary modification, and Dad can show that you are making mountains out of mole hills, or at the very least you have no proof, then not only can the orders revert to pre-emergency, Dad could even end up with *more* unsupervised time than what he had before. I only know from what you have posted here. I do not know Dad's history with the courts and how he presents himself. I don't know what "proof" you have. It is possible, but you have to be patient and follow rules and recommendations.

My child at age 2 only had 5 hours every other week visitation - per the law guardian's recommendation, and CPS indicated report.
However, a friend who did things in a different way, ended up with joint physical and was told she was lucky to have any parenting time at all.

 

[CTU]

FYI: Holidays trump the regular visitation schedule.

It's pretty standard when there's a Mom and Dad for Mom to get Mother's Day and Dad to get Father's Day - regardless of whose weekend it is. You could have denied Dad visitation today. That said, this is one of the things that you can tally on what/when happened. If it not explicitly in your order already, along with other holidays, then this should be addressed in a modification.

If the order and the State statutes are silent, then NO, she could NOT have denied visitation today. She doesn't get to arbitrarily decide whether or not she's entitled to said holiday.

The child is with Dad right now, yes? If that's the case, and Dad brings the child back to Mom unharmed, I'm not nearly as certain that the court will see this as an emergency. Additionally, I'm wondering if Mom is qualified to gauge Dad's mental health.

 

[LdiJ]

If the order and the State statutes are silent, then NO, she could NOT have denied visitation today. She doesn't get to arbitrarily decide whether or not she's entitled to said holiday.

The child is with Dad right now, yes? If that's the case, and Dad brings the child back to Mom unharmed, I'm not nearly as certain that the court will see this as an emergency. Additionally, I'm wondering if Mom is qualified to gauge Dad's mental health.

That is a valid point of view, but if something happens to the child between now and the hearing in two months, mom could be on the hook with CPS for failure to protect the child.

I also think that if the OP lived with dad for any significant length of time in the past, she probably has a pretty good handle on his mental health problems and when they are rearing their head.

OP, if you truly and honestly believe that the child is in danger, then perhaps one compromise would be for you to supervise visits between now and the hearing, rather than simply denying him any time with the child.

 

[t74]

If the order and the State statutes are silent, then NO, she could NOT have denied visitation today. She doesn't get to arbitrarily decide whether or not she's entitled to said holiday.

The child is with Dad right now, yes? If that's the case, and Dad brings the child back to Mom unharmed, I'm not nearly as certain that the court will see this as an emergency. Additionally, I'm wondering if Mom is qualified to gauge Dad's mental health.

Since she is basing it on what he said to her, he can simply say something different in court.

It is hard to tell if OP is exaggerating or accurately assessing the situation. What is clear is that she needs legal assistance.