GAL - general questions

[LdiJ]

Agreed - a lot has gone wrong, and old atty allowed a status quo to be established - never should have happened.

Still not sure how she's evaluating what's going on without having read the petition or looked at his medical and school records that I provided. ? <<< This is the part I'm asking about. Her comments show she hasn't read anything in the case. Isn't that a legal issue?

I think that the GAL is leaning towards mom simply because the child's status quo is with mom and is in the community where the child has been living for the last 10 months. The GAL isn't seeing anything serious enough to make the child change schools and community again.

 

[Shears]

I think that the GAL is leaning towards mom simply because the child's status quo is with mom and is in the community where the child has been living for the last 10 months. The GAL isn't seeing anything serious enough to make the child change schools and community again.

Just sucks, really. If a person spends a half hour at each of our homes, doesn't 'peel any layers', and doesn't read any facts of the last 6-7 years, they won't 'see' much of anything. If she'd read anything, she'd have known it'd be a good idea to look beyond the surface. Specifically it'd have been a good idea to really read the medical and school records. And observe our child for just one hour with other children. I was so excited when I heard we were going to have a GAL - so hopeful for the prospect of someone really focusing on our son. I know she probably has a ton of cases, and many of them *much* worse than ours - cases where children are being physically abused, sexually molested, etc. I get that, I really do. But she didn't even read the petition.

I guess it's just going to be how God wants it to be - I don't know what more I can do to help my son. If he's better off with my being a Disney dad now that my visitation is being reduced to that, and remaining with a parent who doesn't notice he doesn't have one friend, doesn't see how lonely he his as long as he keeps quiet in his room with his video games and doesn't ask for anything from her, then like I said, maybe one day I'll understand why. For now, I just feel pretty low and dejected about it all.

Guess we'll have one last good go-round in the courtroom about the issues at hand, and it'll be what it'll be.

 

[ecmst12]

You don't seem to understand that the history doesn't really matter. All that matters is how the child is doing right now. If the child were NOT doing well, more probing would be necessary.

 

[Shears]

What gives?

You don't seem to understand that the history doesn't really matter. All that matters is how the child is doing right now. If the child were NOT doing well, more probing would be necessary.

? Where do you keep getting your assumptions in your posts? So odd. Who ever said he was doing well? He's *not*. That's the point. But it takes more than 15 minutes asking him what his favorite book or toy is to figure that out. One look at the documentation would have made that clear, and would have spurred the GAL to look at something besides his books and toys.

I don't come here looking for 'what I want to hear' - I'm fine with 'bad news'. But your posts just kinda add fuel to the fire in that they aren't any news good or bad - so far they're kind of just statements of inaccurate assumptions. I already feel like I hit brick walls every where I turn. This has been a toxic situation for years, and trying to reason with my ex has been like trying to nail jello to a wall. I don't really need more of that. It would just help if you didn't assume before you posted. If there's any info I've left out in my long-winded posts that would help you advise, let me know - I'll answer questions to help clarify.

 

[LdiJ]

? Where do you keep getting your assumptions in your posts? So odd. Who ever said he was doing well? He's *not*. That's the point. But it takes more than 15 minutes asking him what his favorite book or toy is to figure that out. One look at the documentation would have made that clear, and would have spurred the GAL to look at something besides his books and toys.

I don't come here looking for 'what I want to hear' - I'm fine with 'bad news'. But your posts just kinda add fuel to the fire in that they aren't any news good or bad - so far they're kind of just statements of inaccurate assumptions. I already feel like I hit brick walls every where I turn. This has been a toxic situation for years, and trying to reason with my ex has been like trying to nail jello to a wall. I don't really need more of that. It would just help if you didn't assume before you posted. If there's any info I've left out in my long-winded posts that would help you advise, let me know - I'll answer questions to help clarify.

While I honestly do understand your frustration, you also need to understand that your child has two parents, with equal rights, and no matter how much you believe that you are the better parent, and that your child would be better off in your primary care, when there is a dispute regarding custody, one parent is always going to end up on the losing end.

Change itself is disruptive to children, therefore courts do not make changes unless the court firmly believes that change is important enough to outweigh the disruption that change will bring. You believe that the change is important enough, but its also necessary to convince a judge of the same.

You have two main issues that you were addressing. The fact that mom moved away, which unfortunately has been stymied by the fact that its been 10 months now, and the issue of your child's cormobid ADD. Unfortunately disputes between parents regarding whether or not a child needs to be medicated all the time for those conditions are problematic.

You just need to be the best dad you can be, whatever the outcome of the case ends up being.