Criminal History and Visitation

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

My fiance is filing for visitation and to set up child support for his daughter. We are just going for basic vistation. Friday-sunday every other weekend. Split holiday, summer vacation. However he has a bit of a past.he was released from jail in January after two years for robbery. Not armed. He had a drug problem at the time. Hes had a job since april and has been paying child support without a court order since then. However we were recently advised by dhs not to without a court order. He checks in with his psrole officer monthly and has been no trouble at all in the 11 months he has been out of jail. We have been seeing his 2 year old every other Saturday for only a few hours. Her mother will not allow us to take her anymore than that or without her staying with us the entire time. We just want to know if his past will be a huge barrier to getting basic vistation.*

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Quoting Tracey

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However we were recently advised by dhs not to without a court order.

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You were advised not to do what?

Why is DHS involved with your fiancé's family? Why would they be offering advise in relation to his custody case?

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Quoting Tracey

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We have been seeing his 2 year old every other Saturday for only a few hours. Her mother will not allow us to take her anymore than that or without her staying with us the entire time.

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Your fiancé can petition a court to grant him additional parenting time. The court will look at the full facts and attempt to determine what is in the child's best interest. If he has an appropriate home environment for the child, is clean and sober, is not involved in criminal activity, appears stable, and DHS is not actually involved in the case (if it is, you need to share those facts) he has a good chance of getting more time with his child than the few hours his ex- is presently prepared to offer.

Sorry let me clarify. I contacted dhs in regards to child support as the order to collect will automatically go to them. They advised us to not pay child support without a court order. There is no dhs involvement. He and I live together. I have four children and am a nurse. Our home is clean and safe. He is clean and cares amazing well for my own children. We are just concerned the past will come back to bite him.

DSH actually told you ... well, him ... not to pay without an order? In this situation that's may be the worst thing to do. If Dad shows that he's able and willing to support even if there isn't an order in place certainly makes him look better.

Ordinarily I'd usually agree with not paying without an order. But not in this case. Your boyfriend is at a distinct disadvantage to begin with.

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Quoting Tracey

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I contacted dhs in regards to child support as the order to collect will automatically go to them. They advised us to not pay child support without a court order.

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There's no "us" involved -- the obligation is exclusive to your fiancé.

You are not describing the sort of advice you're going to be able to get from DHS over the phone.

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Quoting Tracey

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We are just concerned the past will come back to bite him.

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Well, yeah... when you make a lot of huge mistakes in your past, they can come back to bite you. He can't change the past, so all he can do is keep his act together in the present and try to show how much he has changed.

Well thank you for your ignorant response.

No problem. It's always a pleasure to help an immature and rude person like yourself.