Q: How do I prevent my ex-wife from reacquainting my 8-year-old daughter with my psychologically abusive mother?
During our marriage we agreed that a relationship between my mother and daughter was a bad idea. We went five years without said relationship. Now, less than a month since our divorce, she wants to reintroduce my daughter to my mother.
A:
You might need to convince a court that exposure to your mother is psychologically damaging to your daughter. It won't be easy and it won't be cheap. You would file a petition to amend the terms of your parenting plan with the mother and ask the court to amend the plan to limit the contact your daughter has with your mother. It would be better for you and your ex to go to mediation and discuss this issue and see if you can reach an agreement. Maybe seeing your mom on a limited basis with you or your ex present could allow your daughter to know her grandmother but still have some protection from any extreme behaviors.
Absent some good reason for the court to limit the contact, the court won't interfere and will allow the mother to take the child to visit anyone that the mother wants to visit with the assumption that the mother is acting in the best interest of the child. So the cost of such a proceeding will be finding a way to present evidence that this is damaging. That means hiring expert witnesses and they are expensive, not to mention that attorney's fees you will incur.
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