Legal Question in Family Law in Florida
I left my ex in Sept of 2010 just 6 months after having our son. I left because the father of my son was abusive towards me physically and emotionally. I filed for support and he was served 5 and 1/2 months later in his home state FL. I moved to GA when I left which is over 4 hours away from him. He then filed for custody after being served for support within a week. He filed in revenge to the support papers. I know this because he told me on the phone a few months after serving me. Our custody case is still open but we had a hearing for visitation arrangements. The judge referred us to mediation. We had mediation in Sept of 2011. We agreed he would come see our son for two Saturdays since our son had no idea who he really is due to his lack of seeing our son before the agreement. He only showed up one of those Saturdays. Then in Oct he was supposed to get our son on 2 Saturdays and keep him overnight. He only came one weekend. He was supposed to get our son 1 week in Nov where he said he would take off the week to get to know his son. He took off two separate weeks in Nov but did not get our son. He came up for less than 24 hours and then went back home without our son, by his choice. The agreement stated he would have our son the same week every month and the week would be determined by the week he took off him Nov. Well in Dec he didn't have time so I took our son the full distance for a few days. He was unable to keep him for the week because he had a gig at a club. He had the time off from his job at the prison where he works he just chose to do the club thing instead. In Jan and Feb he never got our son because he was again too busy. In March we made plans to meet in TN because we would both be up North visiting family, it just so happens the same week. He was supposed to get our son on a Saturday and texts me saying he wouldn't be able to show up that day he left late and he would be there the next day. Well our son got sick so he waived his visitation time. Then he changed his mind yet again and we came to an agreement again and he would get our son that Tuesday night. He didn't show up and he didn't call at all. The next morning he text me saying he would be by to get our son that afternoon. All I said in return was "You were supposed to be here last night and didn't show up." I said nothing more and didn't agree to another change in agreement. Let me state while all this is going on I was in TN seeing my father who was in the ICU on a ventilator fighting for his life. I made other arrangements for my son since his dad did not show up when he said he would. My sons dad showed up 24 hours after the time we agreed and was told no that this was our 3rd agreement and he didn't show up again. It is now June and I have not heard from him at all since March. He has filed for contempt. He has not called or text to set up anything to see our son. We are to stay in contact about our son however I know that it is not my job to harass him to tell him how our son is. It means when he calls I must communicate or call back in a timely manner to communicate. As you can see from the lack of follow through on our parenting plan he is very inconsistent. To me this seems like a very false contempt. I do not understand how you can file for contempt when he has made no effort to call about our son and then not show up time after time. I have a lawyer but I was wondering what should I do, is there anything I should give the court, like the text where we agreed to something he didn't follow through with. I am not familiar with court or anything. Is it more than likely a judge will see this for what it is, a false accusation. Can I ask for lawyer fees to be paid by him?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Yes you can ask for lawyer fees to be reimbursed or paid by the other party. Yes have all your text messages printed out with a copy ready to give to the judge. I suggest you open the lines of communication with your attorney. If you can not afford this attorney - you should apply for legal aid help. Is this man even paying child support. If not, he should be and you should ask for it.