visitation for Dad

[whitedoveh]

What is the name of your state?Ohio

My son and his exgirlfriend have dissolved their relationship. They have a 2 yr old son. We have hired a lawyer to help him get visitation rights. The lawyer just this week filed the papers with the court. He hasn't seen his son since Jan. 15th. She told him if he wanted to see him, he had to take her to court. Will this go against her at the hearing? She has no reputable reason for doing so. And what are the chances of him getting to see him every weekend? Everyone I talk to seems to think the courts lean toward the Mom. We have no problem with picking him up every weekend. Is it something we can hope for? She lives about 2 and a half hours away and previously we were meeting her half way. But I am not hopeful that she will be cooperative. Should we ask for the half way exchange.

And as for down the road....holidays.....summer extended stays...etc....should we ask for that now? Or should we just take one step at a time. We don't want to aggravate her and at the same time don't want to let her think that we will let her get by with anything she wants. Our lawyer assures us we will get visitation, but I feel he's going to settle for anything she allows us

Actually I think what I need is a little encouragement. So thanks everyone in advance for any input you can give

 

[stepmom&mom]

Assuming that your son does not have a history of physical abuse, illegal substance abuse, or any sort of criminal record, he shouldn't have a problem getting some sort of visitation. As to whether or not that visitation will be supervised, standard or whether or not the parents will have joint custody depends on the law in the state and the situation. For example, can your son show that he has been continually involved in his son's life since day one? Has paternity been established? If not, then it will be before any visitation is set. Also, how involved does your son want to be? My advice would be to seek joint custody, even if you think he won't get it so that it looks like he is genuinely interested in being involved in the child's life. Ask for right of first refusal as well. Has your son been paying child support? If he has, then that is usually an indication that he is agreeing to be the NCP. There is much advice that could be given, but I'll leave that to the others.

 

[CJane]

Ask for right of first refusal as well.

Is that really practical when Mother and Child are 2 1/2 hours away?

OP, you should read this

http://www.divorcenet.com/states/ohio/ohfaq06

 

[stealth2]

In addition, it's unlikely he'll get every weekend. He can expect holidays to be split somehow - most likely alternating. As for transportation, much will depend on who created the distance - that parent may be held responsible for providing all or most of the transportation.

 

[whitedoveh]

Excuse me for appearing unintelligible, but what is "right of first refusal"?

And, no, my son has never been charged with possession or had a criminal record of any sort....that is unless you include a traffic violation. There was never any physical abuse whatsoever.

 

[CJane]

Excuse me for appearing unintelligible, but what is "right of first refusal"?

In its most basic interpretation, it means that before the child can go to a sitter, or be left with someone other than the parent currently exercising a parenting period, then the other parent must be given the opportunity to keep the child.

In my case, it applies only to overnights and weekends. In some cases, it applies to any period longer than X hours.

 

[stepmom&mom]

It could be feasible in cases where one parent intends to leave the children with someone for an extended period of time or has quite a bit of advance notice. In that case, distance wouldn't really be a factor.