Family Law (Child Visitation) Question. Please help.

[Jets4Life]

issue resolved. Thanks for input...

[saskflames69]

I know how lousy this can be. I feel for your daughter, man. Put me in your daughter's position and you have my childhood between 4-7 years old.

[OutOfTheCube]

Note to self: delete all ex-girlfriends from Facebook and increase privacy settings.

[Jets4Life]

issue resolved. Thanks to all for the advice.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Dude I feel for you. I have a buddy who sees his children about 3 times a year... It kills him and he never talks about it.

First arrange for a new "fair" agreement. Insert over priced lawyer here.

Second if it continues there are fines, at least in Alberta, that this so called mother will receive if she ignores the court order.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Stop posting on a public forum and speak to a lawyer.

- Troutman

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Stop posting on a public forum and speak to a lawyer.

- Troutman

Sorry about this. I have the bad habit of keeping thing "bottled in" until the last minute (I learned of the mothers refusal just hours ago). Man, I wish two things:

1. A 24 hour law office
2. Patience so I can sleep, and deal with it tomorrow...lol.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

Sorry about this. I have the bad habit of keeping thing "bottled in" until the last minute (I learned of the mothers refusal just hours ago). Man, I wish two things:

1. A 24 hour law office
2. Patience so I can sleep, and deal with it tomorrow...lol.

Man, as much as it probably feels good to get this stuff off your chest, a public forum route is a bad idea. I'd probably just give troutman a pm tonight and talk him tomorrow about it.

[Rathji]

Start a record of all communications and financial transactions with her. Compile a listing of all past communications. Don't leave anything out, regardless of how minor it seems at the time.

Contact a lawyer (this is going to get really expensive) and get a proper custody agreement drawn up. Until then, you have no power to do anything.

[BEANZ]

I know this sounds heartless, but I sure hope you had a paternity test done.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

There are other problems. The mother rarely returns calls and messages I leave. I would estimate she has not returned 70% of my calls. There have been times where we had arranged for me to meet with my daughter, and the mother simply does not return messages, and I end up not seeing my daughter that week.

I have no idea about family law, but that is so god damn unacceptable.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by BEANZ

I know this sounds heartless, but I sure hope you had a paternity test done.

Heartless or not, it's the smart and right thing to do.

[Regular_John]

Standard Reddit advice: lawyer up, hit the gym, delete facebook

Actually in this case that all sounds like good advice, first time for everything I suppose.

[Crazy Flamer]

I have some personal experience and I can offer you some perspective based on my own situation.

Are you a legal guardian of your daughter's? Do you have a court order stating you are a guardian? if not, You should apply for Guardianship. If you are not a legal guardian, you cannot participate in the decision making process that will be involved in raising your daughter.

As far as backpay on Child Support goes, it is my understanding that you can only be charged to pay backpay on Child Support if there was an existing Court Order specifying a certain amount of Child Support to be paid.

The very best thing to do would be to lawyer up. If your dauther's mom is proving to be difficult to deal with, I highly doubt this behaviour will change in the future. You don't deserve to put up with that and neither does your daughter. Get a lawyer to start you help fighting for your rights.

PM me if you want the name of a family lawyer.

[VladtheImpaler]

You need to talk to a family lawyer in Manitoba - the child is there, the "relationship" in question occurred there, and it would be Manitoba courts that would have jurisdiction. Do you in fact know that the child is yours? I have not dabbled in family law in more than 10 years, and hate the subject, so I am not sure exactly what your rights as far as custody could reasonably be. Most family lawyers would have an initial free chat with you and at least give you an idea of what you can reasonably accomplish and how much it might cost. If you want a name, PM me, but, as I said above, I think you need a Manitoba lawyer (I could be wrong though).

[valo403]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

You need to talk to a family lawyer in Manitoba - the child is there, the "relationship" in question occurred there, and it would be Manitoba courts that would have jurisdiction. Do you in fact know that the child is yours? I have not dabbled in family law in more than 10 years, and hate the subject, so I am not sure exactly what your rights as far as custody could reasonably be. Most family lawyers would have an initial free chat with you and at least give you an idea of what you can reasonably accomplish and how much it might cost. If you want a name, PM me, but, as I said above, I think you need a Manitoba lawyer (I could be wrong though).

I don't practice in Canada, nor do I practice family law, but I agree with Vlad that Manitoba courts would have jurisdiction. Like you said, the child is there, the "relationship" was there etc. There's really no tie to Alberta outside of you moving there, and that isn't much of a tie.

Btw, don't be scared off of getting good advice by comments like 'it will cost you a fortune'. It probably won't be cheap, but good advice will be worth paying for. Find a reputable attorney that you feel has your best interests in mind, don't just pick the cheapest name.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Stop posting on a public forum and speak to a lawyer.

- Troutman

In this case it is okay to seek some general information - I would be careful not to post specific prejudicial information in a public forum.

Fundamental concepts:

The best interests of the child is paramount. I think a Judge might prefer a parent build a stronger relationship with a younger child before sending the child away from the primary custodial parent.

Access is not related to support.

It is the child's right to enjoy a relationship with each parent, consistent with the child's best interest. Parents do not have rights - they have duties.

The custodial parent must facilitate the relationship between the child and non-custodial parent, consistent with the child's best interests.

Custody is a long shot.

Speak to a family law lawyer in Manitoba, asap.

[Northendzone]

are lawyers fee's relative to family matters eligible for an income tax credit?

as an aside, when i read stuff like this, it makes me glad that none of my short term relationships in either MB or ON produced any children.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

are lawyers fee's relative to family matters eligible for an income tax credit?

I don't think so.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by BEANZ

I know this sounds heartless, but I sure hope you had a paternity test done.

Done in 2007.

99.9999998999999% positive, or one in 17,000,000,000 odds that it is not my child...lol