Legal Question in Family Law in California

I and my ex boyfriend have joint custody of our 5 month old son. the father has visitation every other weekend and has provided the court with his home address as the pick up location for me to pick up our son from his visitation. I have my address as the pick up location for the father to pick up our son for the weekends he has visitation. This is stated in the court order. Since visitation has started I was only able to pick up our son at his father's residence once as ordered in the court documents. the other times I have went to pick up our son the father called me and told me that he changed the location to pick up our son.that is not the address that he gave to the courts as the pick up point for me. I have been cooperative with him and always had my son ready for him at my residence except for the time that the father made a verbal threat to bring someone to hurt me, then I had the father meet me at the local police substation. Can the father keep changing the location for me to pick up our son every time he has weekend visitation with our son? what can I do?


Asked on 12/22/11, 5:31 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

The court is not going to let you nit pick about the location as long as you have reasonable notice of where the child is to be picked up and it is not meaningfully farther or otherwise a problem to get to where the child is. If he is making you drive way farther, or jerking you around by letting you show up at his residence and THEN calling to tell you the child is elsewhere, then you have something the court would take interest in. Technically he is supposed to follow the order, but it is actually more important that parents act like reasonable adults and not try to use the courts or the law to nit pick or mess with each other. If he is being unreasonable and really causing a problem, take him back to court for a clarification of the order, but if he is just out with the kid most Sunday afternoons and gives you reasonable notice of where to go, you will not get anywhere trying to force him to go home to meet you every weekend.

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Answered on 12/23/11, 11:07 pm


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