Legal Question in Family Law in Washington
Please answer, Urgent visitation question
My son is 17 1/2 years old. His dad has had little to nothing to do with him for the past several years. He has told my son that he does not have to come in July as is in our visitation and could just come when he wanted. My son got a job for this summer and now because I have filed for his child support to be raised, it hasn't been raised one time in 14 years, he pays 200 a month and makes 48 an hour. I did not raise his child support because he gave me a great deal of emotional pressure not to. With my son being a senior and incurring larger expenses I felt I had not choice. I make 18 an hour. His dad is now furious that he will have to pay what he should have all along and is now saying my son has to come for the month of July as well as this coming weekend. My son does not want to go. He has already had calls from his dad telling him that he is selfish, etc. trying to pressure me to not raise his support. My son is afraid that he will be harrased the entire weekend and does not want to go. Does he have to go or can he refuse. He is also concerned about having to go in July for the same reason, besides he now has a job for the summer.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Please answer, Urgent visitation question
If you do anything to hinder or interfere with your son's visitation time, and if you ex goes to court seeking a contempt judgment on that basis, he may succeed. One thing that sticks out is that your son is 17.5 years old, so I am not sure a lot of judges are going to be very responsive to this type of motion, especially considering that it comes on the heels of your attempts to modify child support.
As for the summer, what you should do is petition to modify the parenting plan to remove that visit. In that context, you can seek a temporary parenting plan that eliminates the summer visit.
As for dad's anger, keep in mind, just because you pay support does not mean you can suddenly become demanding. It's too late to do anything about support prior to your filing to adjust, but make sure that during the process of getting your support order modified, that you get an award that deals with post secondary education, so that if your son wants to go to university, college, or professional trade/tech. schools, dad will have to contribute his fair share.
Last, if you can, please, get yourself an attorney to handle this matter. If you need a local referral, call your local county bar association or the WSBA and ask for a referral.
Best of luck!
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