Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
Hello,
I have a 4 year old son with a developmental speech delay. His father and I were never married but we do currently have a final order. This order states that he gets standard visitation, however in 2011 he disappeared and went over 18 months, not taking any visits or making any attempt at communication. This past summer in July, 2013, he popped up and I tried to work with him on getting to know our son before he resumed regular visits because he was a stranger as far as our son knew. However, after just a couple of weeks in early August, he disappeared again for a few months and popped back up again, in October of 2013. Once more I resumed working with him on getting to know our son before taking him for his standard visits, and once more by the end of October, he had disappeared. He now sees our son occasionally when his family, who has always kept contact with our son and been a part of our son’s life since the beginning and saw him regularly, has him for the day or night.
My son�s father has a history of domestic violence, even to me when I was first pregnant, drug abuse, and suspected mental instability. He claims to have been in and out of rehab and counseling. He is now threatening to take me to court to enforce the current court order or to become the custodial parent, which I know he has complete right to, as I do technically refuse to allow him to take my son off alone. However as I said, his family sees my son regularly every month and I have told my son�s father that he should take that time and see his son, I encourage it.
However because of the past history of vanishing acts and then popping up, like nothing happened which caused my son developmental regression, along with constant harassment (for example; publicly posting things where he would refer to myself as �his used cum-dumpster� �an ugly whore� and �a cunt of a mother�.) I am seeking legal representation or advice on how to proceed to protect my son�s best interest. I believe that he would be in a dangerous or compromising position if left unattended with his father at this point.
I do not wish to remove the father�s rights at all! I want my son to have his father, but I simply need something done to protect my son�s well-being and developmental progress. Every time my son�s father disappeared in the past, my son struggled with developmental regression issues and much more, and I do not wish for that to happen anymore.
So I am seeking help and/or advice in how to proceed in protecting my son�s best interest.
1 Answer from Attorneys
You need to meet in person with a family law attorney and discuss your situation.
It sounds like you have been trying to work with him.
His threats are pretty common (and the judges hear it on a daily basis). He just cannot pop in and out of your child's life.
You probably need to put your child in counseling since it sounds like his father creates a lot of "crisis" in his young life.
Look on this website & on www.avvo.com for an attorney in your area.
Unfortunately, the situation you describe is not uncommon in family law cases.
Good luck!
www.familylaw4u.com
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