Legal Question in Family Law in California
I am a single father trying to get visitation with my kids. While I have been given visitation rights, I find that each time I go to mediation, the mediator, who are always women, seem to favor the children's mother in the recommendations.
Though the judge has clearly stated that when I have the children, I am not restricted as to where I can take them. However, the mediators, at the mother's insistence, write recommendations that restrict my movements.
First, it was that I could not take them to my home for overnights because the younger child was not familar with place.
During the next mediation, she said that I could not take them to their grandparents and other close relatives on her side of the family because she is angry with them. Instead, she reversed herself and insisted that I take them to my home some 30 miles away during visits, with the provision that the grandparents could not be visited.
Each time the mediator has written up the recommendations to reflect the mother's wishes. Despite the fact that the judge on each occassion has said that when the children are with me, I am free to take them anywhere. Yet, when I go to pick up the children, the mother refuses to give them to me, unless, I obey her orders. I have lost so much visitation time with my children because of this problem.
The next mediation is coming up. What can I do to prevent the same cycle of events?
2 Answer from Attorneys
Your case seems poised for a full child custody evaluation. The mediator' involvement in sorting out the children's needs cannot encompass the time and energy a court appointed evaluator can invest in the case. The private evaluator is taken from a court approved list. Typically the requesting party advances the evaluator's fee subject to the allocation of that cost between the parties at a later date. Please meet with an experienced family law attorney to explore your legal options.
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