Good morning.
This is my first post here.
I have a question regarding "reasonable access to the children".
A bit of background, the parents separated in October 2012 and have been living separate since. There are 2 girls, ages 2 & 4. Currently, there is no interim custody order in place, or any type of formal agreement. The Mom is asking for sole custody while the Dad is asking for 50/50.
Typically, the Dad has the girls 3 weekends out of each month. Prior to the separation, the Father was very active in the children's lives. This goes from Friday at 5:30pm until Sunday at 7:00pm. The Mom has the girls the remainder of the time (which is all she will "allow" without an order).
I am under the belief that both the mother and father, because there is no formal agreement in place, have equal right to the girls at present time. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Recently, the Mother has been telling the Father to return the girls before 4:00pm on Sunday, because she has planned Sunday dinner with her parents and siblings.
This matter has been brought forth several times by the Father's lawyer, with lack of commitment from the Mother's lawyer. There is always a response but the matter is not directly responded to. Instead, the response reiterates the Mother's proposal of 3 weekends per month ending at 4:00pm Sunday. A response has also been sent to the Mother's lawyer requesting a 4-way meeting, and proposing that perhaps a special chambers application be submitted for an interim custody order. This request has never been addressed by the Mother's lawyer. It is simply ignored (no available dates given, responses have no mention of facilitating a 4-way meeting).
What, if anything, can the Father do or say? Simply not showing up at 4:00 doesn't seem like a smart move (even though it's a demand and has not been ordered in any capacity) but giving in to her constant demands (far more than what I've written here) is only fueling her need to demand more and more. He feels his time with his kids is being unjustly cut short. He feels that his relationship and time spent with his children should take priority over dinner with the Mother's family (the mothers family live in town, it's not a special visit or rare chance to see them). While he takes no issue with the kids having a relationship with her extended family, he feels those arrangements should be made within her parenting time, rather than his time being cut short to accommodate such visits. She feels he is being difficult by not accommodating her family.
Any advice or relative experiences would be appreciated. If there are legal facts or anything I may be over looking or missing, please feel free to inform me.
Thank you!
This is my first post here.
I have a question regarding "reasonable access to the children".
A bit of background, the parents separated in October 2012 and have been living separate since. There are 2 girls, ages 2 & 4. Currently, there is no interim custody order in place, or any type of formal agreement. The Mom is asking for sole custody while the Dad is asking for 50/50.
Typically, the Dad has the girls 3 weekends out of each month. Prior to the separation, the Father was very active in the children's lives. This goes from Friday at 5:30pm until Sunday at 7:00pm. The Mom has the girls the remainder of the time (which is all she will "allow" without an order).
I am under the belief that both the mother and father, because there is no formal agreement in place, have equal right to the girls at present time. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Recently, the Mother has been telling the Father to return the girls before 4:00pm on Sunday, because she has planned Sunday dinner with her parents and siblings.
This matter has been brought forth several times by the Father's lawyer, with lack of commitment from the Mother's lawyer. There is always a response but the matter is not directly responded to. Instead, the response reiterates the Mother's proposal of 3 weekends per month ending at 4:00pm Sunday. A response has also been sent to the Mother's lawyer requesting a 4-way meeting, and proposing that perhaps a special chambers application be submitted for an interim custody order. This request has never been addressed by the Mother's lawyer. It is simply ignored (no available dates given, responses have no mention of facilitating a 4-way meeting).
What, if anything, can the Father do or say? Simply not showing up at 4:00 doesn't seem like a smart move (even though it's a demand and has not been ordered in any capacity) but giving in to her constant demands (far more than what I've written here) is only fueling her need to demand more and more. He feels his time with his kids is being unjustly cut short. He feels that his relationship and time spent with his children should take priority over dinner with the Mother's family (the mothers family live in town, it's not a special visit or rare chance to see them). While he takes no issue with the kids having a relationship with her extended family, he feels those arrangements should be made within her parenting time, rather than his time being cut short to accommodate such visits. She feels he is being difficult by not accommodating her family.
Any advice or relative experiences would be appreciated. If there are legal facts or anything I may be over looking or missing, please feel free to inform me.
Thank you!
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