
Quoting
RNJane
My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Georgia
I am brokenhearted and my life has been devastated because my 17-year old has moved out of the house and is refusing to see me. He will not return my texts and phone calls or speak to me because of a very ugly argument with his stepdad (my spouse), which resulted in his stepdad grabbing him and my son filing and being awarded a TPO against my spouse. My son also explained what happened to his girlfriend's parent who is a mandated reporter, and a DFCS investigation was initiated. My son was not physically hurt, but had apparently suffered what he felt to be verbal/emotional abuse from my spouse in the past, and this was the last straw.
I had found an apartment for us to share in his school district, because my spouse would not move out of the house, but my ex didn't want to provide the extra $ it would have required to rent this place. My ex's solution was to allow him to live at his girlfriend's house (who lives in the school district). I am the custodial parent, 100%. Do I have the right to cause (somehow) my son to attend therapy with me to get our relationship back on track? His dad is saying if I try to force him he'll just emancipate anyway and then my chances of ever making things right with him will be ruined.
Essentially my son is refusing to have contact with me unless I divorce his step-father which I'm also not ready to do at this point. I understand that my spouse can't be present where my son is present, and I don't expect my son to necessarily move back in with me somewhere, but I am searching for a way to make the first steps toward reconciling with my son, such as meeting for coffee, etc. I'm afraid the longer this goes on, the worse my chances will be to mend with him. None of the adults he's currently in contact with are "making" him be in a situation where he has to see me. I don't want to go the legal route, but it's been 2 1/2 months and I just want to lay eyes on my child. Prior to this nightmare my son and I had a wonderful and loving relationship--he feels betrayed that I've "chosen" his stepdad over him.
Thank you so much for any advice or input you can provide.