petition for visitation and going out of state

[novaman]

What is the name of your state? Illinois
In my divorce visitation was reserved due to alcohol problems. That was almost 10 months ago and since that time I have been sober and finally moving forward in my life. I would like to petition for visitation now but my problem is this. I do not have a home in Illinois. Basically I live at work for now. I am able to do so because it is my business. I have not been able to save up for a condo/townhouse yet. In the divorce I received property we had in Wisconsin. Part of my visitation schedule would be to take my son there at least once a month. I treat it as my home because it is almost payed and I need to have use of it for my work. Since I do not have joint legal custody what can I do to take him there. From what I have read my ex needs to OK every time I would like to take him there (Wisconsin). She is hostile towards me when it comes to my taking him there and I fear she will never OK it. I have also asked her to begin to allow me to at least pick him up and go to a movie alone together he and I. Since she will not allow me to be alone with him and visitation is reserved she basically has all the say which is why I am petitioning for visitation. It drives me completely bannanas to be around her while trying to play with my son. I cant even go for a bike ride around the block unless she joins us. Could anyone advise me as to what I should include in the visitation to try and allow me to take him out of state for that one weekend a month. And if she continues to say no to this do I have any recourse in front of a judge? Please understand I just cant take any more of the control she has over that part of my life. I have done the best I could for 10 months now but I just want to get on with life with my son.

 

[concernedmom4ki]

what exactly does your court order state - word for word..

What is the name of your state? Illinois
In my divorce visitation was reserved due to alcohol problems. That was almost 10 months ago and since that time I have been sober and finally moving forward in my life. I would like to petition for visitation now but my problem is this. I do not have a home in Illinois. Basically I live at work for now. I am able to do so because it is my business. I have not been able to save up for a condo/townhouse yet. In the divorce I received property we had in Wisconsin. Part of my visitation schedule would be to take my son there at least once a month. I treat it as my home because it is almost payed and I need to have use of it for my work. Since I do not have joint legal custody what can I do to take him there. From what I have read my ex needs to OK every time I would like to take him there (Wisconsin). She is hostile towards me when it comes to my taking him there and I fear she will never OK it. I have also asked her to begin to allow me to at least pick him up and go to a movie alone together he and I. Since she will not allow me to be alone with him and visitation is reserved she basically has all the say which is why I am petitioning for visitation. It drives me completely bannanas to be around her while trying to play with my son. I cant even go for a bike ride around the block unless she joins us. Could anyone advise me as to what I should include in the visitation to try and allow me to take him out of state for that one weekend a month. And if she continues to say no to this do I have any recourse in front of a judge? Please understand I just cant take any more of the control she has over that part of my life. I have done the best I could for 10 months now but I just want to get on with life with my son.

Do you have supervised visitaion or what? What's your court order say word for word on that part?

 

[novaman]

The issue of visitation is reserved

The issue of visitation is reserved

 

[stealth2]

You'll have to petition the court for a modification - the judge is the one with the control, not your ex. The judge would most likely step up visitation gradually. For example, if you've been having supervised time with your son, the judge would likely allow you unsupervised visitation of several hours at a stretch for some amount of time, increasing it to a day at a time, and then to overnights. Whether the judge would allow you to take the child out of state once he grants overnights is impossible to predict.

While your sobriety is commendable (also - can you prove to the court that you've been sober?), 10 months is a relatively short time and it must have been a relatively serious situation for visitation to be reserved as a result.