You seem so defensive that you aren't listening to what people are telling you. There are solutions out there.
Let me see if I have this timeline figured out.
They get married, they have kids, the marriage is suffering, they try to fix it by going heavily into debt. Then they break up. He takes on the bulk of the debt, they do 50-50 custody with offset CS, and it works fine for over three years. Sounds like there was some iniquity to the money part of the agreement, but we don't know the details. He was either unreasonble and lost in court, to be paying her legal fees, or he voluntarily accepted unfair equalization out of nice-guy syndrome (thats him) or something. Either way, he dug that hole himself, and why should his children suffer while he digs out again?
Now suddenly he's working lots of overtime and doesn't see his kids much so he figures the best thing to do is foist them back onto their mother. That doesn't work out so well, and the mother wants to go back to the 50-50 arrangement.(Not necessarily its only threatend when she is not getting what she wants) Somewhere in there, he moved away from the town the kids live in, so returning to 50-50 is no longer feasible.
Now you're asking what would happen in court if he tried to request that EoW be the new custody arrangement when the mother isn't asking for it. She wants 50-50, which is in the best interests of the children, he wants EoW, which is not. The judge is going to see a man who is trying hard to pay down his debts. The judge is going to see a man who doesn't want his kids. A judge may very well order that he return to town and resume 50-50. And you know what happens when neither parent wants the children? CAS gets involved.
Why did he change what worked well for the kids for over three years? Why not keep renting in their town and use the down payment money to pay off the debt instead of moving away to buy a house elsewhere?(answer below)
On top of this, she's badmouthing him to the kids and alienating them from him? You know what the best way to fight this behaviour is? 50-50 custody! He already has that, and if he gives it up now, what's going to happen is that pretty soon the kids won't want to visit even on his weekend, and then eventually they'll be old enough to choose to never see him again. And no court order can undo that once he's paid off the debts and wants 50-50 again.
The children are suffering because they have a father more interested in money than in spending time with them. The children are suffering because they have a mother who is denigrating their father. The best interests of the children is to have two parents equally involved in their lives. He is responsible for those children, 50-50 by legal agreement, and he can't just escape that responsibility by moving out of town and expecting the mother to pick up the slack.
For like the 3rd time....nothing is available to rent in this small town...and the closest town to this town is where he moved to....what was he suppose to do live in a box? LOL. The people he was renting from decided to sell the home he was renting.....he could not afford to purchase the home.....so had to move.
I can only assume that the children are far from suffering with the amount of Child Support they are receiving from dad. They have total run of their mothers house and do what they want, when they want (realistically what child would want anything more? ) What the mother chooses to say to them is her mature responsability. I know he is doing the best he can with the cards he has been dealt.
The kids enjoy the schedule of EOW and its working for everyone ..other than when there is a party going on and the mother needs childcare on a saturday night ............
always hard to put things into context for the absent minded
The way I look at this, is the father has had a change of circumstances and he is paying child support. Wow usually fathers are fighting for more time and having difficulty, this woman is fighting for him to keep his time.
Crazy crazy...
I think what people are having a hard time understanding is why a father would want less time with his children? Personally I do not understand it either. We have my bf's kids EOW and would love to have them more but any extra time we request is usually shot down.
There are always things people can cut down on... if his is living in a small town, no need to drive a car every where walk, cable, internet and such is not a need but a want. Before he moved she should have made every possible attempt to stay in that town. If mom tells them as much as you say she does, you can bet she is going to eventually tell them Dad gave up equal time with them so he could work.
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