Ohio.
Hi all, any advice is appreciated!
I have my first meeting with a guardian ad litem in two weeks. My ex and I have been butting heads over the past year or so and after getting a hold of a lawyer and going to court, a GAL is now involved.
We had two children together, we were never married, and since our split up we have both married and both have another child with our current spouses. The two children involved in the case are 9 and 4.
Both kids live with mom during week and I get them both everyone weekend (unless she doesn't allow me to get them which is what started this mess). My lawyer suggested the GAL so here we are. Im not confident Ill get the order reversed and have them live with me during the week but Im going to try my hardest to make that happen. I don't think she's necessarily unfit to be their residential parent but I know she neglects to do some basic parenting roles. She doesn't work and claims she's always in pain and because of her pain she fails to get the kids to school occasionally. She failed to take the 4 yo to a consultation to get his tonsils out few months back. I have rescheduled the appointment myself 2 times after that and both times she did not take him. The kids always have on raggedy clothes and always are too small for them. I have picked them up on occasions where they didn't have shoes on and sometimes during the winter where they were not wearing coats. Maybe some of this is petty so I digress.
Anyway as I said I meet with GAL next week and I want to be very prepared to do so. I know I need to not under any circumstances talk bad about their mom. I don't even plan to bring her up. I just want to show how capable I am of being a good father and how my wife and I maintain a clean and safe home. Our school districts are highly rated and there is so much opportunity for them here. We constantly take them to experience new things in life that not many kids get to. I say all that because I want to prove that I am fit to be a founded father and can sufficiently take care of them. Iv never missed a child support payment. I buy their school clothes and supplies and I pay for half of their extracurricular activities ( I have receipts for all btw).
What do I need to do to prepare to meet with the GAL? I found it odd that she's meeting with mom first at a coffee shop and the GAL wants to meet us first at our home? Not sure why but oh well.
Should I print pictures of us doing activities? Copies of receipts for what I mentioned? Pamphlets or statistics to show how highly rated the schools are? To my understanding the GAL doesn't give two sh*%s about how mom and I feel about each other, its about how we either of us are best suited to let the children strive and succeed.
As for questioning, what will they ask me? What will they ask the kids when we get to that point? How long does it take for the process to finish?
I have a lot of questions but Im sure there are more topics that Im just ignorant of so please please let me know any information that would benefit me.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Im a great father and I want to make sure I can efficiently and effectively show that to the GAL. Ill be happy with whatever happens because I know the right decision will be made and ill never stop loving or caring for them.
Hi all, any advice is appreciated!
I have my first meeting with a guardian ad litem in two weeks. My ex and I have been butting heads over the past year or so and after getting a hold of a lawyer and going to court, a GAL is now involved.
We had two children together, we were never married, and since our split up we have both married and both have another child with our current spouses. The two children involved in the case are 9 and 4.
Both kids live with mom during week and I get them both everyone weekend (unless she doesn't allow me to get them which is what started this mess). My lawyer suggested the GAL so here we are. Im not confident Ill get the order reversed and have them live with me during the week but Im going to try my hardest to make that happen. I don't think she's necessarily unfit to be their residential parent but I know she neglects to do some basic parenting roles. She doesn't work and claims she's always in pain and because of her pain she fails to get the kids to school occasionally. She failed to take the 4 yo to a consultation to get his tonsils out few months back. I have rescheduled the appointment myself 2 times after that and both times she did not take him. The kids always have on raggedy clothes and always are too small for them. I have picked them up on occasions where they didn't have shoes on and sometimes during the winter where they were not wearing coats. Maybe some of this is petty so I digress.
Anyway as I said I meet with GAL next week and I want to be very prepared to do so. I know I need to not under any circumstances talk bad about their mom. I don't even plan to bring her up. I just want to show how capable I am of being a good father and how my wife and I maintain a clean and safe home. Our school districts are highly rated and there is so much opportunity for them here. We constantly take them to experience new things in life that not many kids get to. I say all that because I want to prove that I am fit to be a founded father and can sufficiently take care of them. Iv never missed a child support payment. I buy their school clothes and supplies and I pay for half of their extracurricular activities ( I have receipts for all btw).
What do I need to do to prepare to meet with the GAL? I found it odd that she's meeting with mom first at a coffee shop and the GAL wants to meet us first at our home? Not sure why but oh well.
Should I print pictures of us doing activities? Copies of receipts for what I mentioned? Pamphlets or statistics to show how highly rated the schools are? To my understanding the GAL doesn't give two sh*%s about how mom and I feel about each other, its about how we either of us are best suited to let the children strive and succeed.
As for questioning, what will they ask me? What will they ask the kids when we get to that point? How long does it take for the process to finish?
I have a lot of questions but Im sure there are more topics that Im just ignorant of so please please let me know any information that would benefit me.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Im a great father and I want to make sure I can efficiently and effectively show that to the GAL. Ill be happy with whatever happens because I know the right decision will be made and ill never stop loving or caring for them.
