Motion of Contempt for Visitation Changes Resulting from a Child's Starting School

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

HI
I am on here hoping to help in regards to my case. I currently have a modification for child support and paternity in the courts but the father decided to put 2 motions against me. 1 of which is a violation of visitation. Now the current case has that the father can pick up the child every other wed to sun. Now when this was done it was when the child wasn't in school. Now that my son is attending school full time we made an agreement that his father can pick him up on every other Fri and bring him back on sun. And that is being done because the father lives 2 hours away. Had he lived in the same town I wouldn't mind him going with his father on the regular schedule. But with him living so far I didn't think it was fair that he goes on the long trips with his father. Now that my son has been in school for now 2 yrs and I submitted the change his father now wants to take these actions against me.
I do have proof of his father picking up the baby on Fri from school. I also have text msgs saying that he will pick him up in school.
Will any of that help me in court?
Please help
Thank you
Dee

What you think is fair or convenient doesn't overrule the court order.

Unless your child is amazingly precocious and has been in school since birth, I'd avoid using the term baby to describe him.
Your only chance is that the existing arrangement was a mutual agreement between the two of you with regard to the scheduling.

How old is "the baby"? Is he in actual school (Kindergarten +), or preschool (aka daycare)?

Quote:

---

Quoting darleneg2877

---

But with him living so far I didn't think it was fair that he goes on the long trips with his father.

---

Why?

Serious question.

Two hours, to and from school Wednesday afternoon, Thursday morning, Thursday afternoon, Friday morning, Friday afternoon, and Sunday evening does seem a bit excessive. And Dad has been fine with changing it for the past two years until Mom requested a modification of child support. Now all of a sudden, he is saying she denied him time, when up until now he was agreeing to the deviation.

It doesn't seem right, that she would be found in contempt for something that he had been agreeing to all along although she may find that the judge does not modify the previously court ordered schedule and going forward she will have to abide by it if Dad is no longer agreeing to modifying it. But I can't imagine she is going to get in trouble for it up until this point.

OP, if Dad wants his time, you will have to follow the current order until a modification has been made by the courts.

I'm more curious about the paternity issue ...

... and I'd like to know just how far the school is from both parents.

Oh yeah. I completely didn't even see the paternity part.

That is curious... I hope the OP comes back to explain

Quote:

---

Quoting darleneg2877

---

Now that my son is attending school full time we made an agreement that his father can pick him up on every other Fri and bring him back on sun.

---

Is this agreement in writing? If your ex admits that there is an agreement, then there's not much point to his arguing that you're violating the custody order -- but if he now wants to go back to the order, you need to obey the actual court order while you seek a motion for modification. If the father in fact does not want to spend the time, driving the child to and from school, he will not actually revert to the prior schedule.

Quote:

---

Quoting darleneg2877

---

Had he lived in the same town I wouldn't mind him going with his father on the regular schedule.

---

It's not a matter of what you mind or don't mind -- until the court orders something different, you follow the court's order.

Quote:

---

Quoting darleneg2877

---

Now that my son has been in school for now 2 yrs and I submitted the change his father now wants to take these actions against me.

---

Either there was an agreement or there was not. If there was no agreement, then you needed to follow the order and bring a motion for modification.

If the child has been going to dad's house on Wednesday for two school years, despite the distance, and you've now decided that the arrangement should change because of the travel time, a court is not going to be impressed with your unilateral breach of the custody order.

The reality of things is that you and dad live two hours apart. No judge is going to think that a two hour commute (4 hours round trip, 8 hours to do it twice) to go to school is in the best interest of the child, nor is a judge likely to find it credible that dad would have been willing to drive 4-8 hours a day to do it.

Therefore, its highly unlikely that you will actually be found in contempt...and equally unlikely that a judge would order you to resume the previous schedule.

Do we know yet if it is *actual* school, or pre"school"? How old is the child? Is Dad exercising his time and not bringing kiddo to daycare/pre"school"? Or not taking kiddo to real school? The distinction matters.

Quote:

---

Quoting llworking

---

The reality of things is that you and dad live two hours apart. No judge is going to think that a two hour commute (4 hours round trip, 8 hours to do it twice) to go to school is in the best interest of the child, nor is a judge likely to find it credible that dad would have been willing to drive 4-8 hours a day to do it.

Therefore, its highly unlikely that you will actually be found in contempt...and equally unlikely that a judge would order you to resume the previous schedule.

---

Which means it's entirely possible that Dad will get residential custody and Mom will become the NCP.

Likely? No. But absolutely possible. Just what kind of "schooling" are we discussing anyway?

Can't be that important to OP - she hasn't been back since her original post.