Legal Question in Family Law in Washington
visitation rights
My girlfriend's ex is taking us to court to get visitation rights with his son (15 yrs old & daughter (almost 13). He molested my girlfriend's daughter from another marriage years ago, was convicted and spent 5 yrs in jail. I have raised these kids since they were babies. This is the first time he has ever asked for visitation. They absolutely want nothing to do with him. Can he force this visitation upon them. We live in Washington State. Need answers in a hurry as we have 20 days to respond to the courts.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: visitation rights
The father cannot force visitation upon anyone- only a court can do that. Additionally, with a 15 year old, if they refuse, it will be very difficult to force anything upon them. As for 13, or near 13 years, they are often a little more compliant even when resisting.
You need to be very careful in how you approach this. I highly suggest that you get an attorney in your area and work with that attorney to make sure that your response is well written and argued before the court.
Given the father's conviction for sexual assault upon a minor, I would say that the best he can hope to have is supervised visitation in a facility run by professionals, and even that is going to be hard for him to obtain, given his horrific crimes.
Bottom line, you've got too much to lose by not seeking professional help on this one, and done right, it may cost you something, but it will be very well worth it. Good luck!
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