Comments on: Contempt Of Court for Parenting Time Violations

By: Cherise

Cherise — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 04:38:04 +0000

Ten days ago my fiance and his ex-wife went to court because she petitioned to modify the final divorce decree. They originally had joint custody but she wanted sole custody. The judge approved the modification and he now only has parenting for a few hours every wednesday, every other weekend and then phone calls every week night. Last weekend she showed up two hours late to drop the kids off for his first weekend visit and she has not answered the phone once this entire week. He understands that it is not convenient to talk to the kids every night, but she even emailed him on Thursday and stated that the kids looked forward to speaking to him on the phone “tonight and tomorrow night.” However, she did not answer when he called either night and they did not call him back. Also in her email she informed him that they will be out of town next week so he will not be able to see or talk to his children for the next ten days. She has a history of not following the custody agreement and disrupting parenting time. What is the appropriate action in this situation? Is it too soon to file for contempt of court and/or enforcement of parenting time order?

By: Alexis

Alexis — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:07:49 +0000

I am the custodial parent and for the last 18 months my ex-husband has been homeless, refusing to give me the address’ of where he is staying when he stays with family and friends and has not asked for any weekend visitation. We have never denied him any visitation time, he has simply not asked for it. He decided he wants to take us to court for contempt when the DA told him that they were going to suspend his ODL for contempt of court as he owes just over $2800.00 in Child Support arrears.
He claimed “hardship” and requested a re-calculation stating that he couldn’t find work and then was later denied that re-calculation as he never turned over the necessary records.
We are at a loss here, he has been homeless and hasn’t requested the time with her for over 18 months. Whatever time he does request (about 4 hours a month) he gets with no question. regardless of day or time.
What are our options here?

By: admin

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:07:00 +0000

Special rules apply when a parent / obligor is in the military, and you should consult with a family law lawyer who is familiar with military law.

By: Damarise

Damarise — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:12:16 +0000

Can the parent with full custody file a contempt of court preceding against the other parent for child support arrears? He is in the military and is in excess of $6,000 of arrears.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:50:05 +0000

In order to fully answer your question you would need to have an attorney review the full judgment form. Some judgments have the language you describe with a provision that the clause does not apply to emergencies, including enforcement of the parenting plan. In any event it is easy to schedule mediation through your local county and have it completely very quickly.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:04:36 +0000

My Parenting Plan states that I must persue “future disputes regarding the parenting plan” through mediation. Further that “Mediation regarding parenting/scheduling issues must first be persued prior to and pleadings”.

Does this mean I have no recourse for pressing Contempt of Court other than mediation?

By: admin

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:32:43 +0000

You should talk to an experienced family law attorney immediately. You don’t want the ex’s new parenting plan to become the new status quo, and prompt action is needed.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 02:05:06 +0000

Last week my 13 year-old step-daughter called her father last week and told him that she would be going to her grandmother’s (mom’s mom) house for his scheduled weekend and that it was “her right to choose” and basically there was nothing he could do about it. He put a phone call in to his ex-wife a few days later to see if he could take her the following weekend and got no response from her at all. Then, the daughter called my husband and left a message telling him that she no longer wants to see him or speak to him. This comes after he spoke to her about her grades–she’s failing 5 classes in her mother’s care. As written in the divorce decree he has the right to every other weekend, every other holiday and 2 weeks in the summer. I don’t know that there is even a parenting plan in their case. His daughter just left a message on his phone saying this and that his ex-wife is “getting a lawyer” and that she “just wants it to go SMOOTHLY…” This kind of came out of nowhere for us and we’re not sure where to go from here. What do we do?

By: admin

admin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:54:56 +0000

You misunderstood the quoted comment. Either parent regarless of whether he or she is the parent with “legal custody” can utilize the enforcement of parenting time process. The quote that you are referencing came in response to a comment about forcing the other parent to use his/her parenting time. The court will not take action to force the other parent to follow the parenting plan when they are not using their time. In that situation the proper filing would be to modify the parenting plan to reflect what is in the children’s best interest and to reflect the actual time each parent is spending with the children. I hope this clears up any confusion.

By: Charley

Charley — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 07:20:39 +0000

Admin: You said, “In your situation, you also cannot file a motion for enforcement of parenting plan claiming that they are violating the parenting plan by not exercising their time.”

That’s not true, according to The ODJ website. http://www.ojd.state.or.us/GRA/home.nsf/pages/FAQ

22. Can a parent who has custody use this enforcement process if the other parent does not follow a parenting time court order?

Yes. Either parent may start this court and mediation process by filing the forms available at the courthouse.