Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia
Visitation
I was married and divorced in India. Did not ask for child support at the time as I was working. Am now remarried and in US 4 years. As per divorce I was not supposed to take the child out of the country but I did.My son has been in US with me 3 yrs. I informed my ex, who is also remarried and lives in Dubai,UAE. He has had no objection and visits twice yearly.phones every Sunday.We had an argument last visit.Now he wants to formalize visitation twice a year and take my son anywhere in US with him on his visits. He has retained a US lawyer. I have no obj with the visits but do not want him to take my son out of DC area based on the fact that he does not reside in US and may try to leave with him. I fear that once he takes him to UAE, I may not be able to get hold of him again. Do I have a good chance of this?
The matter has not yet been filed in court. Till now I have only recieved a letter from his lawyer.Also, since I do not work now, can I file for child support? My ex earns well and tax free in UAE.My sons stepfather has been supporting him these past 3 years. He has no obj continuing support but I think that my ex wants visits without financial obligations which is unfair. Do I need a lawyer? or can I fight this on my own?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Visitation
In this continuing saga which you've previously presented in this forum, you can certainly petition the J&DRDC for an order for child support against the nonresident father.
(If the father files for visitation, it's likely that the Court will consolidate the actions to be heard together.)
Rather than preventing the father from taking the child outside of the metro area(not very reasonable), your lawyer should concentrate on convincing the court that the restriction should apply to the removal of the child from U.S. territory for visitation purposes.
In other words, the court should order that the father is not permitted to remove the child from U.S. territory for visitation purposes without further order from the court.