Legal Question in Family Law in District of Columbia

Re: non custodial mom

I can only imagine how difficult it must be for you not to be able to spend time with your son. it is simply not right. if he is in violation of the court order granting you visitation, you should definitely bring him back to court with a Rule to Show Cause.... if he has no reason to withhold visitation from you, he is going to be found in contempt. You must find out first where he lives, so that you can serve him with the motion. Also, if you pay child support... are the checks cashed... where are the checks going? Did he give a new address to child support division? Change in custody is not very easy, but you should look into it more, maybe there has been a change of circustances to the extent necessary to modify the current custodial arrangement...maybe you can have joint legal custody with him still having primary physical custody and you with extended visitation rights. At a later time you can modify it further so that you can obtain full custody. Having said all of this, you should know that it is much easier said than done, the Court will also most likely appoint a GAL (Guardian ad Litem) to protect the interests of the child. I have been on all sides of this type of cases and it is always a long litigation process... BUT WORTH IT when warranted by the right circumstances.

Good Luck.

Re: non custodial mom

If the father is in violation of a court order granting you visitation rights, you can file a Rule to Show Cause. This is a court order that requires him to demonstrate why he shouldn't be held in contempt of court for doing this. Of course, you'll have to serve him with the court papers, so you'd better locate him.

As far as gaining custody, unfortunately your lack of contact with your son for so long puts you at a disadvantage. Courts are reluctant to change custody from one parent to the other unless there's a strong showing that the custodial parent is abusing or not properly caring for the child. I suggest you work on getting your visitation rights restored for now, try to rebuild your relationship with the child, and then think about the next step.