Legal Question in Family Law in Pennsylvania
18 months ago I was falsely accused of child abuse by and ER physician. CPS did an investigation and it was "founded". My daughter has been residing with her father while I have supervised visitations by him or my sister. I hired my own medical experts and filed for a hearing. The first hearing was post poned, the second hearing CPS came unprepared and I won the appeal. CPS did not appeal this. The first custody order I had primary physical custody and my ex had our daughter every other weekend and every Wed-Thurs. I either want it to go back to that or at least have 50-50. My ex did agree to the 50-50 which would be one week on and one week off. She is 2.5 yrs old and not in school so this would work for the both of us. After my ex to his attorney he thought it would be to "traumatizing" for our daughter to jump right into 50-50. Now I know this is coming from his attorney because he does not speak like that. He wanted me to have her every other weekend for a month and then every weekend for a month and then go into every other week on the 3rd month to "ease" our daughter into the routine. I do not want to do this. I am her mother and she is clearly comfortable with and enjoys being at my home. I do not understand this tactic? It just seems very fishy to me. He was not concerned when he had our daughter with 3 different sitters? I just do not understand where he is trying to go with this. Do I do what he wants and hope to have 50-50 in 3 months or do I petition the court to modify the current "temporary order". He is stating I will never have primary custody since our daughter has been with him for 18 months. I am afraid the court will order us to do a custody evaluatuon and then that is going to pre-long the time until I get to spend more time with our daughter. Since the child abuse allegations were expunged can this still be used against me in family court.
2 Answers from Attorneys
You should consult with an attorney before doing anything. Its impossible to say how you should proceed here without doing a consultation. With so much on the line, it is critical for you to have an attorney. The outcome of the case could have an impact on you and your child for years, so you need to have someone who understands the legal system and can argue your case for you.
If you can't afford an attorney, you should consult your local legal aid. Otherwise, if you would like to disucss this further, feel free to give me a call. I offer free phone consultations.
Justin C Gearty Jr.
717-490-6325
http://www.geartylawoffices.com
DISCLAIMER: This post is for educational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship.
I agree that you should sit down with an attorney and go over the entire history (including documents) of your case. I also think that you should, in fact, file something with the Court instead of simply trusting your daughter's father's word about getting more custody. Filing something would certainly put more pressure on him to come up with an agreement sooner rather than later -- and if he won't, then you'll already have the Court proceedings started.
If you'd like to discuss your case in further detail, feel free to contact me offline. Best of luck to you.
Cary B. Hall, Esquire
Law Offices of Cary B. Hall, L.L.C.
121 East Chestnut Street, Suite 205
Souderton, PA 18964
T: (267) 663-9995
F: (215) 525-4364
http://www.carybhall.com
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