Legal Question in Family Law in Louisiana

When my former spouse decided to move out of Louisiana to Wisconsin, I didn't want to keep him from leaving and I couldn't take care of our autistic daughter by myself, and I knew she'd cry and miss him, especially in the evenings. I could never care for her 24 hours a day. I took care of her in the daytime, and in the evenings he'd take over, as he didn't need much sleep. He was a workaholic and much of our 21 year marriage, he wasn't around. Our Judgment for Joint Custody was mutually agreed to be changed to a 3 time yearly visitation. I have to do all the traveling due to her autism condition. It was also written for me to pay all the expenses associated with the travel, but I don't pay child support so that is how his lawyer justified that. At the time, I couldn't argue about the fact I had to pay all the expenses for travel because his lawyer was aggressive and I was in shock about it all, and now I'd like to perhaps change it, but our daughter is 17.5 years old now and it may be too late. I want to know if I move to Wisconsin, if I have to file my LA Joint Custody Judgment there and have the visitation schedule changed there, if I want more frequent visitation. I also want to know how successful I will be if I want to try to change the present LA Judgment in LA because all I want to change is the amount I have to pay to visit her, not the actual visitation schedule, so that he will have to pay half of my travel and lodging expenses since I have to travel there. Also, if I want to force my former spouse to apply for his LA pension benefits at an earlier age, if he doesn't freely elect to do so sooner, what is the special order that I should ask my attorney for, and when do I ask for it?


Asked on 6/27/11, 9:26 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Martha Amanda Mandi Lucas Mandie Seale Lucas

Your judgment is extremely onerous to you but you agreed to it. She is 17.5 and will soon be 18. It appears that she may be unable to care for herself and will need to be interdicted or the Wisconsin version of this. This means that she is found by a court unable to care for herself or her affairs. During this proceeding, caretaking, etc., can be decided. You will need to pursue this in Wisconsin. If your attorney doesn't normally handle pension matters in community property cases, you should find one who does. In the community property agreement pertaining to pensions, each company has particular wording, etc. that must be in the order/agreement of splitting of proceeds. Penalties are often involved when proceeds are removed early and so this must be taken into account. This is much too involved and specific to handle in this format.

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Answered on 7/02/11, 8:51 am


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