Answer to Paternity and Visitation Petition Alleges Domestic Violence

[tigerchix]

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Arizona

We received an answer to a complaint on a paternity and now mother is claiming in her answer that she wants sole custody and that there has been domestic violence between, Grandfather, father and girlfriend, which is completyly untrue, there was an incident that occured between the mother and father that was reported by the mother, in which she accused him of DV, but in the police report that was with the answer it states that there were no idications of laceratiosn or red marks that the officer could see and it happend in 2007, however she has a protective order against her on a minor and adult at this time. What is the next step, do we file for a mediation? She has no proof of this and if she is claiming DV against the father and girlfriend, then why would she let them see the child and spend the days with him?

[ClarenceAcheson]

Mediation works if both parties want to resolve the dispute without a big fight.

Unfortunately, when one party is alleging domestic violence, that is usually the opening act in a big fight. You can certainly try mediation, but, realistically, you probably need to prepare for a fight. If the mother has an attorney and you want to win, you'll need to hire an attorney.

[Dogmatique]

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Arizona

We received an answer to a complaint on a paternity and now mother is claiming in her answer that she wants sole custody and that there has been domestic violence between, Grandfather, father and girlfriend, which is completyly untrue, there was an incident that occured between the mother and father that was reported by the mother, in which she accused him of DV, but in the police report that was with the answer it states that there were no idications of laceratiosn or red marks that the officer could see and it happend in 2007, however she has a protective order against her on a minor and adult at this time. What is the next step, do we file for a mediation? She has no proof of this and if she is claiming DV against the father and girlfriend, then why would she let them see the child and spend the days with him?

Very simple.

Because the courts generally recognize that unless the DV occurred when the child is present, the DV itself would not present a risk to the child hence visitation should be allowed.

[tigerchix]

Well, mother states that there has been DV in the presence of the child, but yet she is not there to witness any DV. There is no factual evidence of any DV happening, on the other hand the mother has a protective order against her on a minor and an adult. How will this affect the case? At this time they are both representing themselves.

[Neal1421]

Well, mother states that there has been DV in the presence of the child, but yet she is not there to witness any DV. There is no factual evidence of any DV happening, on the other hand the mother has a protective order against her on a minor and an adult. How will this affect the case? At this time they are both representing themselves.

It won't likely affect the case.

[tigerchix]

So even though she has protective order on her, she still might win and get sole custody?

[Neal1421]

Probably not sole custody, but she will probably remain the custodial parent if that's all you've got against her.

Also, it would help if you kept all of your questions on one thread. I'm not one to go searching through a poster's history for background information, especially when there have been 3 threads started within a matter of weeks.

[tigerchix]

Sorry, I didn't know if I had to do one post or not, but thanks for the heads up. Thank you for all your responses, my mind is somewhat at ease now.

[tigerchix]

Well, since this last posting, Father and mother have gone to mediation twice, Dad wants child Sun - Wed and and every other weekend, mother is stating that dad can see son but dad can't go to his house because he lives with his dad and mom doesn't want child around his grandpa. There was no agreement made, now we are preparing for trial, what are the chances of getting joint custody, or at least having the child spend the time at dad's house?

[Dogmatique]

Dad is not being reasonable with parenting time to be honest - he's asking for virtually a 50/50 timeshare and unless Mom agrees he's not likely to get that ordered. Mom has status quo on her side and the courts generally favor that.

Dad does however stand a good chance at being able to keep kiddo at his own home during his parenting time.