Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia
Child Is Miserable
My child is 12 almost 13, and his dad and I have joint custody, but child does not want to stay with dad because dad will not let him play any sports, have any friends over and dad threatens to beat child until he blleds if child does anything wrong. Dad has a girlfriend living with him. Girlfriend has two girls 10 & 6. Dad let's them play sports and have friends over. I know that these children are not his, but he treats them twice as good as he does his own. My child cries and screams and kicks when he has to go with dad. Dad will not let child see grandparents, he won't let child go outside. He keeps him in his room. Child gets blame for other childrens mishaps and he's not even around. Please HELP my child and I deal with this situation!
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Child Is Miserable
You should consult immediately with a local family law attorney. You should also document everything that your child reports to you after having been at father's house.
Re: Child Is Miserable
To alter any prior Court Order you need to prove a "material change in circumstances". Once you do that the Judge determines whether it is "in the child's best interests" to make a change.
The Court will appoint a "Guardian ad Litem" to represent the child and this is the lawyer who the child can speak directly to. If the child repeats this information to the GAL this will be instrumental in bringing about a change.
The best advice in any contested custody or visitation case is, of course, to obtain the best lawyer you can afford. The orchestration of your evidence is everything. You must have someone who can handle it.
Good luck.
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