Motion to Suspend Visitation Rights

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Louisiana
I have been served papers based on lies by my ex wife stating I have been physically abusing my child by striking between the legs with my fist and twisting of the chest area,I wrote what was in the order to give you an ideal what Iam dealing with, My child has just turned 12 years old, I have never spanked my child or did anything what is being said here, a little history when my child was first born my ex left me. We got joint custody and i have visitation in place for every other week end. When my child was small she was always taking him to Dr. Appointments and telling me it wasnt in his best interest to stay overnight with me so we both agreed to wait until he got a little older. This was the biggest mistake I ever made. As the child got older he didnt want to spend the night with me he would only stay for daytime visits. Now that my child is older i been asking for her support in getting overnight visitations. She pulls this to get me clear out of the picture. She has never really wanted me to have anything to do with him. She has also in the past year pulled him out of school and is home schooling him. She takes him to the Dr. alot and is now using this to manipulate everything. I work in law enforcement/security and worried now she has gone to far extremes that i may lose my job, I have other kids I fear i may lose my rights to them based on lies. I can't afford an attorney everyone wants $5000,00. I know I need to answer what is written in the order any and all advise would be helpful Thanks

What evidence does mom have of her allegations?

What does she bring him to the doctor for? What does the doctor say? Have you been to the appointments? Spoken with the doctor in person?

What does your court order - not the agreement that you made between yourselves - actually say about overnights?

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Quoting FatherWhoWon

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What evidence does mom have of her allegations?

What does she bring him to the doctor for? What does the doctor say? Have you been to the appointments? Spoken with the doctor in person?

What does your court order - not the agreement that you made between yourselves - actually say about overnights?

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She can't have any evidence I never did anything but try to spend time with my son it says in my order my son has made representations to mover of these allegations. It also said my son related this to his pediatrician and counselor, I didn't even know he had a counselor. Do I write her attorney and ask what they are presenting to the courts?

When my child was little she would take him to the Dr. for Asama and he carried a breathing machine everywhere but never had to use it around me, also ears,nose, and throat. I was never told when he had Dr. Visits just after the fact. Within the past year he has been diagnosed with Vocal Cord Dysfunction which she states certain things trigger this such as stress placed on the child. I was able to attend one Dr. Appointment when they did a scope and found minor irritation. The nurse practitioner wrote on a piece of paper and showed me and his mother a note that said anxiety.

The court order states i get overnight visitation every other weekend including certain days during the holidays. I have joint custody with the mother.

If the court order says you have overnights, then you do. That means you exercise it. You don't send the child back to her and then blame her that he didn't stay overnight. The court will not let you blame her for that.

You need to be way more involved with what's going on with these doctors and counselors. That means you're goingto have to be a lot more proactive - call routinely and ask if he has an appointment coming up, for example. Meet with the doctor to discuss you child's file. Get a copy of all of his records. If mom's not going to be forthcoming with info and involving you, you have to find ways to keep yourself involved anyway.

If mom has the doc or the counselor testify anything about how the court needs to limit the time the child spends with you, that will be very difficult to overcome. Which is why you need these doctors to know you, to like you.

Mom's lawyer should notify you if she's going to subpoena anyone and you should have a copy of any evidence they are submitting. Unfortunately, if you are pro se and ignorant, a less than stand-up attorney may try to steam roll you.

Make sure you have your court order in hand if
she tries to call the police when you keep him overnight on your designated weekends.
YOU are the parent, YOU are on control of what your child does
during your parenting time. Do not let the child tell you what to do, you do what the order states.
This sounds like you are in for some push back but start making calls now to get involved. Good luck.

Also, if mom tries to bring in something in writing from the doc or counselor, including the doctor's notes from his file, you *should* be able to get them dismissed as hearsay. This is one example where, if you don't have an attorney and she does, you can really get run over if you're not careful. However, a note from the doc cannot be cross examined. The actual doc can.

Take note of Chede's advice. You are the child's father. Act like you are, in every aspect.

Quote:

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Quoting FatherWhoWon

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If the court order says you have overnights, then you do. That means you exercise it. You don't send the child back to her and then blame her that he didn't stay overnight. The court will not let you blame her for that.

You need to be way more involved with what's going on with these doctors and counselors. That means you're goingto have to be a lot more proactive - call routinely and ask if he has an appointment coming up, for example. Meet with the doctor to discuss you child's file. Get a copy of all of his records. If mom's not going to be forthcoming with info and involving you, you have to find ways to keep yourself involved anyway.

If mom has the doc or the counselor testify anything about how the court needs to limit the time the child spends with you, that will be very difficult to overcome. Which is why you need these doctors to know you, to like you.

Mom's lawyer should notify you if she's going to subpoena anyone and you should have a copy of any evidence they are submitting. Unfortunately, if you are pro se and ignorant, a less than stand-up attorney may try to steam roll you.

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This advice might be a little risky based on what dad is being accused of and the fact that the child is 12.

He cannot be certain who is doing the lying...the child, or mom. Mom may just be running with whatever the child is saying. If he attempts to force the child to spend the night, then the lying could get a whole lot worse.

I absolutely agree that he needs to get more involved with the doctors and counselors and even participate in some joint sessions with the child if at all possible. However I would be cautious about forcing the issue of overnights until this goes to court and mom gets shot down by the judge.