Legal Question in Family Law in California
6 week Visitation
My son's dad gets 6 weeks each summer. Last summer he kept him the entire summer against my wishes. In Nov 08 I told him over the phone he will get 6 wks only this summer. So one month prior to summer I typed a letter giving him the dates of the 6 weeks to start the next day after school ends (he always starts his visits the day after school gets out). I asked him to sign it and return to me before his visit starts. I even enclosed a SASE and a copy of agreement for him to keep. My question is: what if he does not return the agreement to me before visit starts? Should I still drive to meeting place for exchange in case he shows up with signed agreement. The order does not give dates. It only states'' 6 wks each summer. We both live in California.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: 6 week Visitation
If there is a court order for 6 weeks and he violated it, you could have run to court to seek an immediate order for the child's return, you could have sought intervention from the authorities, you could have sought to have him held in contempt, which potentially is jail time. You could still file a contempt for last year's violation. Going forward, yes, try to get dates for the exchange that he puts in writing. If won't sign, I'd file a modification request of the current orders to get specified dates.