I was divorced from my ex-wife about 6 years ago; the court order (California) gave us joint legal custody and her primary physical custody. I had to move out of state for work several years ago. The original visitation order expired about 3 years ago when my child started school, and until recently, my ex and I were able to work relatively amicably on visitation (as per the court's directions). Now, things have turned ugly almost overnight (she wanted the child for Christmas, but its my turn), and my ex is threatening to cut off visitation. I know that I probably made a mistake in not trying to get the order revised, but I wanted to be able to do all of this as reasonable adults. What do I need to do here - do I need to travel to California and file a new visitation request? If so, is it something that I can do by myself rather than through a family law attorney? I'm fairly sure I'll win in the end (I don't want anything unreasonable - just 1/2 the vacation time), but I want to make sure I do this right. I'd appreciate anyone's time or advice. Thanks.

