My ex has not lived with us for 4 years but filed a custody case just last month. In court, I was allowed ten minutes to speak and was denied any mentioning of abuse even though I had police reports with me. My ex's attorney objected so many times that I probably only spoke 5 minutes. I was silenced at mentioning any advice from the counselor who had set the existing visitation schedule.
The Judge awarded more visitation time to my ex even though there are changes to the existing schedule 40% of the time because my ex can't handle the time he has. The Judge said that a father deserves the right to be a father and that my ex should have more time with his daughter. He then court appointed an attorney for my daughter. The attorney's responsibility would be to determine a final custody order.
After meeting the attorney, my 13 year old daughter said that she hated her attorney and never wanted to go back. She said her attorney did all the talking about what was right for her father and that she shouldn't spend so much time with her mother. He informed her that she shouldn't care so much about her soccer because she would quit soon enough and get interested in boys and other stuff. And, he told her that she was not to see her counselor anymore because it's the same counselor for her mother.
What? Her attorney has never met me and he has never spoken with me, but he has made a decision that my daughter spends too much time with me and that the counselor is bias towards me. Of course, he's never met or spoken with the counselor either. And, he failed to understand that my daughter plays at a soccer level among the top 1% in the state.
Gender equality? The Judge and his appointed counsel have chastised me for being a good mother? What's "in the best interest" of the children in divorce should be about the children's needs, desires, and welfare based on the individual parents not the recent public movements.
The courts and the attorneys are creating the needless custody battles. If there are any reform groups out there, I am willing to take my case public if it can help change the system. I am absolutely appalled at the emotional upheaval the courts inflicted upon a 13 year old girl when there was no reason to do so.
(Original Air Date: 10/04/06) Jan went on the run with her grandson the day her son-in-law, Chris, was released from jail. Jan believes Chris killed her daughter, and says she now fears for her own life and the life of her 4-year-old grandson. After serving time for involuntary manslaughter in the death of his wife, Chris says he will stop at nothing to regain custody of his son. Jan comes face-to-face with the man she has been in hiding from for a year. Then, see a custody battle that kept a mother fighting for her daughter for nearly a decade. Now reunited, Irene struggles to parent her daughter, Brittany, who was torn from her as a 7-year-old and returned as a teenager. Can these two bridge the gap and learn to be a family again? Share your thoughts, join the discussion.
