Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
childrens rights
Our court order has the kids 17 and
11 visiting across country (via
airplane) at Christmas and in the
summer- BUT
My exhusband said they can decide
how long to stay - but then his lovely
bride gets furious and threatens a
custody battle (for kids that arent
hers?)
The kids say they fight horribly; and
he drinks until he passes out when
they are there and because of this
they dont like to go (come to find out
their dad has criminal drug charges
on his record) !!
Can the kids refuse to go? Or am i
obligated to make them even at ages
17 and 11
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: childrens rights
You have more control over the 11 year old, so if you accede to the younger one's wishes not to go, you could be held in contempt of court. The older one at 17 has more of a say, even though there is a court order, but if he/she refuses to go even though you've done your best to convince otherwise, the court probably wouldn't do anything. The best solution is to move for a modification of visitation, but obviously there's an expense involved to do so.