The Family Law System
June 13th, 2007
…Is not a quick process. I wish that I could say that I wanted an action completed as a single father and it would only take a matter of weeks from start to finish, and it isn’t like that in reality.
In March of 07, I filed a petition for a Parent Time Evaluation (which is an evaluation by a licensed psychologist of your home and your child’s other parent’s home, to evaluate which is a better environment for your child to be raised in) through the court system. It will be three months on June 20th, and I have not heard a thing about what the next step is.
I plan to have this blog NOT be a rant and rave about my specific situation, but more about the specifics of the legal system and the tools that are available to any parent going through a similar situation, and will focus more on that from now on.I guess the main point that I wanted to get across with this post is: Be patient. I know it is agonizing waiting for this or that, and you should certainly not go for months and months without anything happening, but as long as you know you have done all that you can and more, anticipate that it will all take some time.
If you have any comments or questions you can email me at canyonfoolUT@gmail.com
Cheers!
CF
March 30th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
CF - I see this post is a couple years old, but figured if you’re still out there I’d write.
Stumbled on this site whilst researching another topic.
The bottom line is: if you are a male, in this great country of ours, and you are going through a custody battle, you’re already at a disadvantage. The family court system is so flawed in favor of the mother. I would say it is laughable, but that would be too nice. I speak from experience, so let me give you one example - I have a total of five children (hers, mine and ours) My child support is $550.00 per month for the two that I have with the ex-wife. However the great state that I live in graciously gives me roughly $60.00 a piece monthly credit for my other three kids. How does that make any sense?
The documentation that you spoke of in another post, while a valiant effort will prove to be meaningless in court. It is entirely up to the judge presiding over the case. I had a GAL (Guardian Ad Lid um) tell the judge the children would be better off with me. Unfortunately, because I had moved 2 hours away, the judge ruled for their mother. Guess she was pissed at my lack of loyalty to her county.
Anyway, hang in there. The chances of you winning a court battle are pretty low. The chances of you going bankrupt trying to gain custody or visitation rights are pretty high. The kids will appreciate your efforts in the long run. Mine are now teenagers and I can already see their brains piecing the situation together. I’m not the evil cave dweller that I was made out to be.
Take Care - would love to hear how this ever turned out for you.