LafayetteLady
Posts: 7683
Joined: 5/2/2007 From: Northern New Jersey Status: offline
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ORIGINAL: LafayetteLady quote:
ORIGINAL: onedeceptivesub thank you to everyone for all of your caring advice and talking issues. it is complicated because he was not married to the mom who was a sub and the boy is now with his grandparents who are not honoring the visitation that was previously awarded so it is a big mess. he's had to fill out this huge questionnaire and yes, i know it all should be his decision but if i go there and am new to the mix i can't help but feel it would possibly mess things up worse and then even worse if i ended up getting that kind of questionnaire to answer. thank you again for everyone who shared advice. So what you are saying is that neither parent was given custody of this child. Their lack of marriage doesn't really complicate things as much as you think. However, the fact that custody wasn't given to this man you are considering involvement with should be of concern. Bible belt or not, parents will still be a first choice over grandparents unless there is a reason. If the court didn't deem him competant, why not? If he chose not to pursue custody, why not? If he isn't competant to raise his own kid, how competant can he be to "master" a sub? If he let his own kid go, sorry, but my opinion is that is a scummy person. Also, exactly how attached, dedicated and loyal do you think a person who has no dedication to their own offspring can be to you? Ok, first, I was talking in the general sense of "him" as well as how the court is likely to view him. You are right, that past mistakes and circumstances being past, except they probably aren't "past" for his child. Here is the biggest mistakes most non custodial parents make when trying to get/increase visitation. First, they don't keep up with ordered child support. Not doing so will NEVER work in their favor courtwise. Even if the amount ordered is out of reach financially, he needs to pay as much as he can. Every state has child support calculations available on line to figure out the right amount of support. Second, believing/claiming they can't afford an attorney to go to court to, in this case, enforce ordered visitation will also not work in his favor. Every state also has "pro se" packets available either on line or at the courthouse that has jurisdiction over the case. Use them and file a Motion to Enforce Litigant's Rights (the necessary motion for someone not allowing ordered parenting time). His "past circumstances" ARE working against him, regardless of what they are and who he may be now. So he had better be prepared to demonstrate exactly why he is "worthy" now and that the circumstances were in the past. Yep, it will be a long road, probably with multiple court appearances. If Child Protective Services weere involved in the past, he better be able to prove to them those circumstances are in the past. How does he do those things? First, he makes the effort to get time with his child EVERY time the order says it is allowed. Doesn't matter a bit if the grandparents are going to deny it and he knows it. If he doesn't make the effort, the court is going to look at it. They don't care how frustrated he is making the effort for nothing every time, and regardless of the eventual outcome, neither does his kid. Next, he documents each and every failed attempt and what happened. As for your involvement, forget all the "dom/sub" shit. This is about a relationship and how this situation going to affect the two of you. Don't think for a second that all you are doing is supporting him through this battle and when court is over, happily ever after will come. Unless the court in the end orders that he gets custody and all ties with the mother and granparents are severed, they WILL be granted parenting time even if he gets custody. If they aren't cooperative now, they will spend the rest of that kid's life watching him like a hawk for the most tiny mistakes, and generally making your life hell. You could be the most vanilla couple in the world and it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference. I worked in Family Law for about 15 years. That time included a LOT of custody battles and dealings with CPS. It wasn't in your state, but when it comes to custody battles the above is pretty universal.
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