Legal Question in Family Law in Pennsylvania

Thank you for your question,

I am sorry that you were confronted by the father of your fianc�e's children in such a manner. He appears to have been looking for trouble and hoping to have the police come out and arrest you on his false accusations. I agree with you (and so would the Court) that the children should not be exposed to such confrontations. However, this often happens when one of the former spouses has managed to get on with their life (as your fianc�e has done) and the other spouse has not.

The police did not handle this matter the way that the law requires. Police are very well aware that oftentimes, someone gets injured in these confrontations through no fault of the victim and the police have a duty to protect against any party being injured in these situations.

There is no reason to believe that the father of the children will not attempt this again. In order to protect yourself, your fianc�e, and the children from being exposed to their father's hostile attitude, I would strongly suggest that your fianc�e and you take certain steps to avoid this situation from occurring again in the future. First, your fianc� should obtain a Protection from Abuse ("PFA") Order against the father of the children before his next scheduled visit with the children. The PFA should name you and your fianc�e as the protected parties. If the father violates the PFA, you and your fianc�e would be able to go to Court and ask the Judge to hold the father of the children in Contempt of Court which carries a jail sentence up to 6 months. Second, I would also suggest that your fianc�e aske the Court to change the location where the children should be picked up by the father on his visitation days. This way, the children will not associate their home as a place where they could possibly be injured. In many of these situations, the Court often will designate either the police station, a public library, or some other public place as the location where the father will pick up and drop off the children for his visits. In addition, a third party will be designated to take the children to the "drop off" point and to pick them up after visits with their father, so that neither your fianc�e, nor you will have any contact with the father. In this way, the father will be deprived of any opportunity to express any anger or hostility against you or your fianc�e, and eliminating any possibility that the children will be exposed to his hostility.

I hope this helps the situation and further steps will not have to be taken against the father, especially for the sake of the children.