Q: Can I go back to court to undo a divorce agreement that I had with my ex husband?
My ex husband and I had a written agreement that he will be claiming our 2 older kids and I’ll be claiming the 2 little ones.that’s was my only option at that time (3 years ago) since I didn’t have and Attorny and couldn’t afford to have one. He only pay court order child support. He doesn’t see the kids even though he supposed to have them every weekend as per the custody order. he doesn’t call them anymore. And he doesn’t buy them anything or involve in their life at all. Can I take him back to court to break that agreement and claim all my 4 children? Or it can’t be undone?
A: It depends on whether the agreement was properly drafted and executed and whether it was incorporated into your divorce judgment. Typically, you likely will not be able to change it. Even if you could change, it you'd likely need some grounds to do so which based on the facts in your question, you likely don't have as it appears he is doing what he agreed to. It seems you simply do not like the fact that he no longer visits or seems to want to have anything to do with the children. While likely a bad choice on his part and it is understandable that you may disapprove, that is not something you do not get to dictate. In other words, you typically can not force someone to spend time with or extra money on their children or attempt to legally punish them for not doing so by taking away certain benefits such as allowing him the tax deduction that you by your own choice agreed to. All that said, we very often do not get a complete picture of what's going on in a forum like this so it never hurts to consult with a local family law attorney regarding this issue who can review your specific situation in more detail to see if there are any other facts which may change the outcome for you. Best of luck.
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