Q: My ex took our girls without my consent to Florida for vacation against our order from PA. Will he lose custody?
He’s violated our agreement many times related to reasonable communication and participation in activities. He has a criminal history as well as a history of violent behavior. He asked to take the girls to Florida for vacation. Our order requires written permission which I did not give. The police wouldn’t do anything. I’ve already filed for an emergency hearing asking that he be held in contempt. Will the court grant me full custody?
A:
If this is your first contempt petition, probably not. Very likely that the court will also not view your petition as an "emergency," but will schedule it for a hearing in the normal course of court business. And you're right that the police won't do anything: they'll simply refer you to file for relief with the court.
I'll tell you this, however -- if you had no good reason to deny permission for him to take your girls on a FL vacation, the court will likely view you as being spiteful and may modify the custody order so that your permission is no longer necessary. So I hope you had a good reason.
If your case is in southeastern PA, feel free to contact me directly to further discuss your case. Best of luck to you.
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