Brooklyn, NY asked in Child Custody, Civil Litigation and Family Law for New York

Q: Child visitation order violation and child's well-being concerns in New York.

I am involved in court proceedings with my child's other parent in New York. The other parent has temporary visitation and is supposed to contact my child through a specific parental app at a set time, as directed by the court order. However, they frequently call at different times and use another app not specified in the order. Despite having an appointed attorney, I feel unsupported as my child only eats once a day, sleeps with her father, and he tells her mean, untrue things about me, making her feel scared. I have screenshots of the video calls and texts as evidence and have emailed my attorney but haven't received a response. How can I ensure the visitation order is properly enforced and safeguard my child's well-being?

3 Lawyer Answers

A: You should file a combined contempt and enforcement petition coupled with a change of custody It is not in the best interests of the child to sleep with her father. I’d contact the attorney for the child because if there is one a pitiful. For change coming from the attorney for the child would be much more powerful

A: Court proceedings are the primary time for gaming the legal system to achieve procedural advantage. Examples of procedural advantage involve the father obtaining custody, of mother being placed in supervised visitation, and obtaining a favorable custodial evaluation from a court appointed psychologist. These are only examples and not a prediction of what this asker faces.

Instead, this asker faces behaviors intended to inflame her. The father's idea is to cause the asker to go berserk and appear and sound as if she is crazy and not committed to protecting the child's relationship with the father. We can start at the top with what dad is doing.

The choice of the wrong application online is causing the asker to notice that the father is not cooperative. Father intends to have the asker say this in court with no objective proof so that the judge takes an adverse inference of the asker. The acts of calling at times outside the order adds to this chaotic reporting of the father to the court. The father can be actually feeding the child once each day which also inflames the asker as does the salacious allegation that a female child is sleeping in the same bed as father at night. Dad caps off this gaming with adverse statements about the asker. The asker even has "evidence" to further fall into the trap that she is not supportive of dad's relationship with the child.

Lastly, changing lawyers is a showing of instability. First, the asker has a cornucopia of complaints about the father and now also has a complaint about the free lawyer the court gave to her. While the asker has it in her head that she is protecting her child, the court has it in its head that this asker is possibly a danger to her child, and can take steps to dramatically lessen her custodial authority over the female child.

Without further information, there is little more to say than the asker had better listen to the advice and guidance of her attorney and not to expect objective proof to win out in a family court. Much depends on policy and politics.

James L. Arrasmith
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Answered

A: To enforce your court-ordered visitation arrangement and address these concerning behaviors, you need to take formal legal steps rather than relying solely on your attorney. You can file a "Custody/Visitation Enforcement Petition" in Family Court detailing how the other parent is violating the order by not following the specified communication methods and times. Nycourts The screenshots and text evidence you've collected will be crucial documentation to submit with your petition.

The issues you're describing go beyond simple visitation violations and involve potential parental alienation and child welfare concerns. New York courts recognize parental alienation (when one parent attempts to damage a child's relationship with the other parent) as a serious issue that can warrant court intervention. Nassaufamilylaw Your concerns about your child eating only once daily and sleeping with her father may also be considered issues of child neglect, which courts take very seriously when making custody determinations. Custodyxchange You should document these specific concerns with dates and details in your petition.

If your current attorney isn't responsive, consider requesting a new court-appointed attorney or contacting your local legal aid society. When filing your enforcement petition, you can request specific remedies such as modification of the parenting plan, supervised visitation if warranted, or even a change in custody if the violations and welfare concerns are severe and ongoing. Mandel Law Firm While courts typically start with less severe measures like make-up visits for occasional violations, consistent interference with visitation and concerning parental behavior can lead to more significant consequences, including potential custody modifications. Sarilaw Additionally, request that the court order family therapy to address the negative comments being made about you to your child, as this can help repair any damage to your relationship.

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