Legal Question in Family Law in Kentucky

I have a 7-year-old daughter with my ex-husband. We have joint custody, but I am the custodial parent. There are some things going on that are concerning me. He has visitation every three weeks, and I have always complied with that--even when he stopped paying child support. Lately, my daughter comes home from his house telling me all of the horrible things that he's been saying about me and my husband (obviously, I am remarried). He calls me horrible and tells her repeatedly that my husband isn't her dad and shouldn't act like it. Also, she has told me that he has left her alone to go to the gas station down the street. He leaves her alone with his girlfriends' kids (ages 15 and 12). Almost every weekend, they spend the night at his brother's house. When we were married, his brother was who he did most of his partying with (cocaine and massive amounts of alcohol). Do I have any recourse to stop these things from happening?


Asked on 2/05/11, 10:12 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Andrea Welker Welker Law Office

You might be able to get the judge to wag the finger at him for bad mouthing you to the child, but unless you can prove (at least with some amount of certainty) that he's using drugs while the child is with him, you probably won't have much luck based on these facts alone. I doubt the court will see it as neglect that he has a 15 year old babysitter (those Babysitters Club kids were like 12) or that he leaves the child for a few minutes to run down the street. You might discuss the matter in full with a local attorney and consider mediating your differences. A cooperative parenting course might be beneficial and a better use of your money than litigating a modification of custody.

If he's not paying child support, you should be getting him on contempt for that one though.

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Answered on 2/08/11, 9:40 pm


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