Visitation set up without Lawyer?
Forums:
Is anyone familiar with how to go about obtaining visitation, what paperwork needs to be filed, ect, in the state of Florida? My SO has not gotten his son for more then a few days a month. We need to set up visitation but don't know how to proceed, and financially a layer would be draining. Any ideas on what to file on our own when we go to FL this week?
Go to the court house for the
Go to the court house for the county that is in charge of the case. They will have a "family court" area that deals only in divorce, child support, and custody modifications. They will have the packets there that you can pick up (some counties have the paperwork online that you can download and print out) requesting a custody modification. Typically in Florida there is not "visitation" Florida is very pro 50/50 and children having equal access to both parents so long as both parents are fit.
A normal co in the state of FL as both parents being legal, one maybe primary residential if the alternate parent lives out of state. If this is the case, visitation is typically the entire summer and alternating school "holidays" which yes means labor day weekends, forth of july, etc etc etc. As an added bonus: if you get a CO put in place, Florida recently passed a law that has all CS auto terminating on the child's 18th birthday. if the child will still be in school past their 18th birthday but graduating before their 19th birthday the payee (he/she who receives cs) must file for an extension BEFORE the child reaches the age of 18.
Fair warning: they are also very harsh on deadbeat parents. They will not only suspend a license, but if more than 90 days goes by without CS being completely caught up: They will arrest the parent in arrears. The sheriffs department in my county is very proactive on hunting those with "failure to support" warrants. Likely because half the deputies are divorced, and by god if they have to pay so does everyone else!
Go to the court house for the
Go to the court house for the county that is in charge of the case. They will have a "family court" area that deals only in divorce, child support, and custody modifications. They will have the packets there that you can pick up (some counties have the paperwork online that you can download and print out) requesting a custody modification. Typically in Florida there is not "visitation" Florida is very pro 50/50 and children having equal access to both parents so long as both parents are fit.
A normal co in the state of FL as both parents being legal, one maybe primary residential if the alternate parent lives out of state. If this is the case, visitation is typically the entire summer and alternating school "holidays" which yes means labor day weekends, forth of july, etc etc etc. As an added bonus: if you get a CO put in place, Florida recently passed a law that has all CS auto terminating on the child's 18th birthday. if the child will still be in school past their 18th birthday but graduating before their 19th birthday the payee (he/she who receives cs) must file for an extension BEFORE the child reaches the age of 18.
Fair warning: they are also very harsh on deadbeat parents. They will not only suspend a license, but if more than 90 days goes by without CS being completely caught up: They will arrest the parent in arrears. The sheriffs department in my county is very proactive on hunting those with "failure to support" warrants. Likely because half the deputies are divorced, and by god if they have to pay so does everyone else!
Thanks so much! Next week we
Thanks so much! Next week we definitely be stopping at the court house. I'm hunting online now for the forms.
We are out of state, so hopefully the summer/holiday rule will apply. Im a teacher at a daycare so I have holidays off anyway :). I wonder how it will work now that SS is only 2 and not in school?
Also child support is the first check out, even before rent lol. We will go homeless before SS does.
Were they married? An
Were they married? An agreement as part of the divorce? No?
Check your support enforcement website. I know my state now offers resources for visitation and establishing rights.
Aside from that, look for something like a parenting plan. Is there one already in place? If so, you need to modiy that existing order. You will need to file it, serve the BM, and go to court.
There is literally nothing in
There is literally nothing in place other then child support. They were never married, so nothing got done when they split up.
If there's child support
If there's child support ordered, then he has legally been established as the kid's father, correct?
If so, you need to file for a parenting plan. You propose, she counters, mediation, possibly a GAL...fun stuff.
Not.
Oh goodie. Opening pandora's
Oh goodie. Opening pandora's box, huh?
Yes he's been established as the biological father, on the birth certificate and what not. He had to do a DNA test for child support, so I'd say it's pretty set in stone it's his kid. Lol
What's a GAL? Sorry, not used to the jargon I suppose.
Guardian Ad Litem. Basically,
Guardian Ad Litem. Basically, an attorney for the child. It's expensive, and the judge almost always goes by what they say.
Really, if you can do the plan and agree with BM, that's the best.
So...
How old is the kid?
Does dad pay support regularly? Is he in arrears?
How often does he see the kid? For how long has he been doing this?
How close do the parents live to each other?
What is the relationship like between the parents?
Do either/both parents have criminal histories? Jobs?
Just a few questions. Like I sadi... FUN stuff.
Haha I appreciate your help.
Haha I appreciate your help. I'm clueless and feel better having a heads up.
My fiancé has been paying support since they split. 350 every paycheck faithfully. She wanted more and went through the courts to try, and ended up getting exactly that in court. He has never been in arrears. She has a history of denying visitation, regularly. Seeing as we never got to spend time with SS, and we both got opportunities in GA to better our lives, we moved. (he got a promotion and I got accepted into a grad school of my dreams so we are now roughly seven hours away by car, 40 minutes by plane) My SS is now two, but we have been playing her 'keep away' game for 18 months. We generally are allowed 2 to 4 days a month, most months, but again that is only when she feels like it and most times we have to take her biological daughter also, so no alone time with SS. Sometimes, I'll take a 10 day vacation and we will agree to bring him up to GA for a week and last minute she will pull the deal and I'll have taken a vacation for nothing and we don't even get to see SS at all that month.
Their relationship is spotty. Sometimes she will be all buddy buddy with him or myself, only to turn defensive and hurtful again. In the beginning their relationship was worse then now, she blocked all communication from SO for weeks and we heard nothing about SS during that entire time. She's personally attacked both of us via email and phone/text, but neither of us is petty enough to respond. We just want to see the kid.
Both BM and SO have jobs in the restaurant industry as managers, and I believe she has a record but I'm not positive for what; my SO does not have anything on his record except a traffic ticket.
Does making a parenting plan pretty much just mean he sit down with BM, work out what days, and the judge approves? I don't think she'll agree to much, considering she wants him to take BD and SS, and never on holidays. ( we celebrate most our holidays a day or two later since it doesn't feel right doing it without SS, and BM won't separate her kids on days like Christmas, thanksgiving, ect.)
Thanks for your help.
Beating someone to the
Beating someone to the punch*
I don't engage or communicate with BM anymore. I tried once for SS's birthday and it wasn't very great, so I DO leave all communicating up to BM and SO. Lol I don't want someone to accuse me of being involved further than appropriate.