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  • Visitation

    Well they say love is blind. ANd in my case it may be true. Now that I have had time to reflect though I have some concerns as far as my ex husband is concerned.

    When the baby is born in March I know he will see what visitation rights he has. He never hit me or anything. However, there were times he pushed me and grabbed my wrists tight. He pushed me down a few times. He was also what others said to be mentally abusive.

    Can I Bring this up when we go to court for custody arrangements since I am worried about the baby? I don't want him to hurt her in any way physically or emotionally.

  • #2
    Kconnections,

    I am not sure what jurisdiction you reside in but if you live in Ontario, these specific stautes would apply to your situation.

    Here in Ontario we have the Children's Law Reform Act that deal with incidents of custody and access issues and also the Divorce Act (Canada).

    In custody and access situations of a child or children, the best interest test applies in most jurisdictions. This measure is derived from the Hague convention as a common synopsis for most jurisdictions.

    http://patriot.net/~crouch/hague.html

    http://www.law.cornell.edu/uniform/vol9.html#child

    In Ontario, for instance a mother and father are both entitled to custody equally. It does not matter if they were married or not.

    Incidents of access are generally determined on the best interest test also.

    A lot of people believe an attitude of the tender years doctrine. This is somewhat legal fiction, however some professionals continue to emphasis it as a common sense approach. Tender years doctrine prevailed during the industrial revolution and war time years where most fathers were off fighting the war. However this is a wrong way to think. Some people have actually lost custody by using this approach. See last link pasted below. There is plenty of child development research available and most courts have been educated on same. Children are better off emotionally with both parents involved in their life in a meaningful way unless one of the parents will be harmful to the child either physically or emotionally.

    Abuse and violence is not good. Some jurisdictions may consider it in custody and access issues if you have rock solid evidence that past abuse may effect how one parents a child. Other jurisdictions may not.

    Some courts will order supervised access at designated centres if there are concerns for the child safety and well being.

    Since your child is not born yet, your concerns are speculative. A custodial parent has no right to limit or to dictate the terms of the relationship with the other parent. Access is the child's right. It is the child's right to have a loving meaningful relationship with both parents unless it is proven to the contrary.

    I have come across some recent case law in ontario how one parent did their best to alienate another parent out of a child's life. In the end their actions came back to haunt them and the child's best interest prevailed.

    http://www.canlii.org/on/cas/oncj/2004/2004oncj157.html

    and also this

    http://www.canlii.org/on/cas/onsc/20...onsc14047.html

    and this

    http://www.canlii.org/on/cas/onsc/20...onsc12842.html

    Most family law cases are decided and turn on the relevent facts.


    I would research the applicable laws in your jurisdiction to get a clearer insight and perspective and how it would apply to you and your situation.

    As an example I believe the state of michigan has statutory joint custody regime and parenting plans. Arizona and Washington have similar legislation.

    Hope this opinion helps

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