Q: Can my ex husband stop by the house our children reside at when we have a court order that he gets supervised visits?
My ex and I are not together due to domestic battery. I had a restraining order for two years and was not able to renew it because he had not contacted me. Since his battery charge against me he has been arrested 3 times for battery and convicted once. He and I own the house that my children and I have been living in since he was arrested and he had moved back in with his parents. Its a tricky situation because the house is in both of our names, but he came by on a Tuesday with a stand by officer to drop my children off things (children were home and saw him). I guess my question is if the courts only allow him supervised visits is he allowed to just stop by where the children reside even though my court order says he only can see the children during the allotted time. The officer told me because she was there he could, although he's already had 2 chances to get his belongings and he is just coming by to give the children things when he could be giving them at his visitations
A: Unless the order says differently, the officer cannot change the terms of the order on their own. The terms of the order control...sometimes police officers want to take charge and change judicial orders. They cannot.
Bruce Alexander Minnick agrees with this answer
1 user found this answer helpful
A: I can read this incident another way: Perhaps your husband brought a cop with him when wanted to give his children something--at a time he knew you would not be there--just to be sure you could not renew your outdated domestic battery retraining order. He probably also wanted to avoid a nasty scene with you.
Terrence H Thorgaard agrees with this answer
A:
If there is no restraining order currently in place, he is likely not in violation of a Court order by going to your house to give things to the children, unless there is another Court order that specifically prohibits him from doing so. When he goes with a police officer at least you should feel safe that no domestic violence incident will take place although it is understandable that it is an uncomfortable situation. Dropping off things/gifts for the children will most likely not be considered visitation. For visitation, the order you have should be followed.
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