kbtreasure
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia
*Deep Breath* This is long, and I apologize for this.
I have a son, age 7, with a man that I was not married to. I left him when I was pregnant when I discovered him doing drugs. Our son was legitimized, given his fathers last name, and a child support and visitation order was updated in 2007, and expired in Feb. of this year. It was a temporary order due to the fact my sons father had just gotten out of prison & the judge wanted to give him time to rehabilitate.
The order stated that he was to have every 3rd weekend visitation with our son starting at 10 am Saturday & ending at 6 pm Saturday as well as 10 am Sunday & ending at 6 pm Sunday. There was to be no overnight visitation unless it was in the home of my sons paternal grandmother. He was ordered to pay $40 a week or 20% of his income, whichever was more.
During this time he did not exercise his visitation rights. That is his choice, I understand. My sons paternal grandmother would get him every other weekend, and thus established a wonderful, caring relationship with him, as well as the rest of the family, excluding his father. His father did not pay child support.
The order expired in February of this year. I did not take him to court to have it updated because he was in prison (again) at the time. He's been out for about 3 months. I had spoken to him when he first got out and agreed to give him time to get a job, a stable home, etc.
He asked to see our son 2 weekends ago. I felt that it would be safe, since our son is now 7 and I agreed to the weekend. I received a phone call from his paternal grandmother on Sunday, and she was frantic. She informed me that my son had not been giving his medication (ADHD & Asthma) for the entire weekend, that he was sick (he had a cold) and was not fed all day on Saturday. I had spoken to his father several times (twice on Friday & twice on Saturday) and I specifically asked if he'd given him his meds (He said yes) and if he (our son) had eaten. He said yes.
I was not in town at the time (my sons father & his extended family live in my hometown - I live 2 hours south of them) so I called my parents who went immediately and picked my son up. Upon arrival my Mom called me and I spoke with my son. He told me his dad had not given him his medicines (despite him asking) and he hadn't given him any food on Saturday.
I immediately called my attorney on Monday morning and he stated that since our court order had expired, and I retained sole custody that I did not have to allow my sons father to see our son. He said that we need to immediately do a modified visitation schedule and have a hearing as soon as possible.
This is my question (my attorney's office is closed for the rest of the week):
I am shocked and horrified that he did not only NOT feed our son but didn't give him his meds. His asthma is severe!!!! and he told our son that "He'd grow out of it; he didn't need it". My son informed me that he spent the night with his fathers neighbor on Friday night. I cannot fathom how he could possibly know this neighbor well enough to leave our son with them, since he's been living there for only 3 months.
I want to petition the courts for supervised visitation or at the least, to have a similar visitation schedule like we formerly had. I don't think it's too much to ask him to FEED and MEDICATE our child!!
Do I have a leg to stand on? I've been told from several people that what he does during his time is none of my business, that he can allow our child to spend the night with whomever he pleases, and he doesn't have to medicate our child.
!!! Is this true?? Surely not!!
Thank you so much, in advance. If there is something I didn't explain clearly, please let me know and I will further elaborate.
Thank you, again.
*Deep Breath* This is long, and I apologize for this.
I have a son, age 7, with a man that I was not married to. I left him when I was pregnant when I discovered him doing drugs. Our son was legitimized, given his fathers last name, and a child support and visitation order was updated in 2007, and expired in Feb. of this year. It was a temporary order due to the fact my sons father had just gotten out of prison & the judge wanted to give him time to rehabilitate.
The order stated that he was to have every 3rd weekend visitation with our son starting at 10 am Saturday & ending at 6 pm Saturday as well as 10 am Sunday & ending at 6 pm Sunday. There was to be no overnight visitation unless it was in the home of my sons paternal grandmother. He was ordered to pay $40 a week or 20% of his income, whichever was more.
During this time he did not exercise his visitation rights. That is his choice, I understand. My sons paternal grandmother would get him every other weekend, and thus established a wonderful, caring relationship with him, as well as the rest of the family, excluding his father. His father did not pay child support.
The order expired in February of this year. I did not take him to court to have it updated because he was in prison (again) at the time. He's been out for about 3 months. I had spoken to him when he first got out and agreed to give him time to get a job, a stable home, etc.
He asked to see our son 2 weekends ago. I felt that it would be safe, since our son is now 7 and I agreed to the weekend. I received a phone call from his paternal grandmother on Sunday, and she was frantic. She informed me that my son had not been giving his medication (ADHD & Asthma) for the entire weekend, that he was sick (he had a cold) and was not fed all day on Saturday. I had spoken to his father several times (twice on Friday & twice on Saturday) and I specifically asked if he'd given him his meds (He said yes) and if he (our son) had eaten. He said yes.
I was not in town at the time (my sons father & his extended family live in my hometown - I live 2 hours south of them) so I called my parents who went immediately and picked my son up. Upon arrival my Mom called me and I spoke with my son. He told me his dad had not given him his medicines (despite him asking) and he hadn't given him any food on Saturday.
I immediately called my attorney on Monday morning and he stated that since our court order had expired, and I retained sole custody that I did not have to allow my sons father to see our son. He said that we need to immediately do a modified visitation schedule and have a hearing as soon as possible.
This is my question (my attorney's office is closed for the rest of the week):
I am shocked and horrified that he did not only NOT feed our son but didn't give him his meds. His asthma is severe!!!! and he told our son that "He'd grow out of it; he didn't need it". My son informed me that he spent the night with his fathers neighbor on Friday night. I cannot fathom how he could possibly know this neighbor well enough to leave our son with them, since he's been living there for only 3 months.
I want to petition the courts for supervised visitation or at the least, to have a similar visitation schedule like we formerly had. I don't think it's too much to ask him to FEED and MEDICATE our child!!
Do I have a leg to stand on? I've been told from several people that what he does during his time is none of my business, that he can allow our child to spend the night with whomever he pleases, and he doesn't have to medicate our child.
!!! Is this true?? Surely not!!
Thank you so much, in advance. If there is something I didn't explain clearly, please let me know and I will further elaborate.
Thank you, again.
