Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Visitation

I initiated divorce proceedings against my husband of 12 yrs. earlier this year after his second arrest for domestic abuse. He is facing various criminal charges for harassment and several OP violations, including violating a stay away OP while the children were with him for visitation. He is very angry because this time I am refusing to drop the charges. I have custody of 2 kids and the marital home. In clear retaliation he is refusing to ''allow'' the children to take a vacation planned 5 months before I initiated divorce actions. He stated he didn't want to go. So the trip, a one week cruise leaving locally, was planned with 4 other familes and the understanding he was choosing not to go. My question is: can he derail these plans simply out of spite? He is not seeking custody of the kids and admitted in Court I am a ''fantastic'' mother, so no issue there. We are one week away from departure and the kids are very excited. I let him have them for an extended weekend, a last minute thing, to make up for his one overnight visit he'll miss while we're away. I even took them out of school early. He took them upstate with his parents and told them they weren't allowed on the cruise. They're crushed! Can he just do that?


Asked on 9/14/05, 9:57 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Andrew Nitzberg Andrew Nitzberg & Associates

Re: Visitation

This is a difficult situation.

If he has taken the kids on a 'visitation' and is not returning them to your custody as per the order, then he is in violation of the law.

Does he or you have an attorney? If so, ask for assistance there.

While you do not have a legal right to take the kids on a cruise and thereby 'miss' his visitation period, there would be no legal consequences if you did so pursuant to this excellent purpose.

Is he refusing permission or refusing to waive his visitation during the cruise? i am a little unclear as to how he is obstructing this cruise. You don't need his permission and, if he chooses not to go with you, I assume that would be a relief.

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Answered on 9/14/05, 1:00 pm


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