Who Should Be Responsible?

[stealth2]

Wait - this happened in AUGUST? So SEVEN months later, you're looking at who to blame?

Also - did the school have a copy of the custody papers on file? What do they actually say about Dad's visitation?

 

[Just Blue]

We enrolled our son into elementary school

This really bothers me. GP's referring to their GS as "their son".

 

[mistoffolees]

I'm not sure that's true. If this is the legal father of the child, regardless of his custody status and barring a restraining order barring him from contact with the child, it's highly unlikely that the school would prevent him from taking the child with him.

Transferring records, yes. But physically taking kiddo for the day? Not likely. It's not their job to enforce court orders - we certainly tell posters that often enough.

Yes, good point. Maybe they didn't do anything wrong.

However, it concerns me that Dad shows up at the door with a legal document and "she didn't know what the paper was that the Father had given her", yet she let the child go with him. Maybe I'm jaded, but if someone showed up at my door with legal documents, I think I'd be cautious. First thing I'd do is read the document to see what it says. Then, I'd check the school records to see if Dad was authorized to pick up the child (a list of people authorized to pick up the child is pretty much required these days). If Dad wasn't on the list, I'd have called the guardians and/or not let the child go.

I don't know if Dad was on the list, so I can't say if the school has legal culpability. But it does look like sloppiness on their part to get a legal document and not know what it says.

Contempt of what, exactly? OP seems to think Dad shouldn't even be named in the court orders - which means they don't apply to him.

Contempt of the custody orders. Dad apparently kept the child for 3 days that was not in his visitation time. Even without a restraining order, that should be enough to earn him a strong reprimand (at the very least) from the judge. Given that he enrolled the child in a different school, it might be enough for stronger action.

Also, this apparently happened in August. SEVEN MONTHS ago. One wonders why Grandma/Grandpa is JUST NOW wondering who's responsible for the child missing 3 days of school and coming to no harm.

Agreed.

 

[MichaCA]

The school person claims she called the court clerk...it sounds like she was doing her best to cover the situation.

But the question is, if thats true, why did the court clerk say its OK for dad to take the kids. Is the court clerk the ex girlfriend?

I for sure would have taken action around the ex-girlfriend, that sounds like fraud...

 

[stealth2]

Given that he enrolled the child in a different school, it might be enough for stronger action.

We don't know that he actually DID do that.

 

[Just Blue]

We don't know that he actually DID do that.

No, you are right.

And as the GP's seem to think of this child as their own...I wouldn't trust anything they say.

 

[LdiJ]

We don't know that he actually DID do that.

No, we don't, but we do know that he unenrolled the child in the school the child was previously attending. That certainly shows an intent not to return the child.

I think that dad got some bad advice somewhere. I think that somehow dad didn't understand or realize that the grandparents actually have custody...or explained his situation badly to someone, and got the advice to "snatch" his child back from the grandparents.

Heck, if he mislead US we might have told him to go get his child.

 

[mistoffolees]

We don't know that he actually DID do that.

True. OP said "was picking our Son up to enroll him in a private school."

If OP can prove that, it might lead to more significant penalties, but you're right that we don't know that Dad took any steps to follow through with that threat.

 

[CJane]

Contempt of the custody orders. Dad apparently kept the child for 3 days that was not in his visitation time. Even without a restraining order, that should be enough to earn him a strong reprimand (at the very least) from the judge. Given that he enrolled the child in a different school, it might be enough for stronger action.

I don't think Dad HAS court ordered visitation time. From what I could decipher in the previous thread, the grandparents have been allowing Dad quite a lot of time, and want HIM to have joint custody with them rather than the mother of the child. But, I think that he's not currently on the orders at all.

If he's not a party, he can't BE in contempt.