Legal Question in Family Law in Michigan
Child Visitation
My daughter is almost 11 years old. Her father has been both to jail & prison several times for various charges. He is an alcoholic & probably a drug user as well. He has another daughter that is 13, she was taken away from him when she 3 by the state & given to her grandparents (his parents). The state awarded his parents permanet gaurdian ship & she has been with them every since. He currently is pressuring me to let him ''visit'' my daughter. I will not allow him to take her alone because of his drinking problem & past history. In the past 11 years he has spent time with my daughter about 5 or 6 times & always under my supervision. Of those 5 or 6 times, one time I had to ask him to leave because he was drunk, another time hung over & kept falling asleep on the couch. We have no ''visition'' restrictions or any guidelines through the court. If I refuse him visitation with her & suggest we go thru the courts what are my chances of be assured that he will have to have supervised visits with her? I am affraid to start this if it will make things worse. He usually goes away after about 3 months, then shows up 2, 3, or 4 years later to do it all again. I'm not sure what to do & how to deal with it.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Child Visitation
This is not really a legal question, but a question you have to work out. Your legal right is to deny any visitation, since you don't have a court order requiring unsupervised visitation.
It might be in your child's best interests to have a court order: 1) for child support and 2) to make sure that if he takes her, it's clear he has no right to custody and the terms under which visitation is appropriate (such as no drinking or drug use).
Then, you have to decide whether your child would benefit from knowing her father (for all his faults).
It might be that even in his state, he has something to offer, if only the fact that she knows who he is.
Nothing you've said implies that he would hurt her, so why not make it easier rather than harder? Your job is to look at what she needs, what you need and to do whatever you're going to do on terms you and she can live with.
Re: Child Visitation
A consultation with an experienced family law attorney will provide you with several options that will help to insure your daughter's best interest, safety and well-being. This isn't something that you should be deciding all alone. There may be important legal ramifications to your decisions.
For more information, go to:
www.MidMichiganDivorce.com
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