My ex and i have been going through a custody battle for our son for the last 5 yrs, i am the father and i spent 1,000′ s of dollars in legal expenses, we have gone to court 3 or 4 times now, with me getting a little more each time, when he was first born i had no legal rights to him whatsoever, as she did not state me on the birth cert. but now he is 6 yrs old and i have joint legal custody and full physical custody with her having him on weekends, a few years ago i only had him 2 days a week and the f.o.c made me pay 465.00 a month, later on down the road i received joint physical and joint legal custody, 50-50 so the f.o.c lowered my child support to 65.00 dollars a month, because i made more money, now i have physical custody with her only having him 2 days a week. but we still have joint custody. and i still pay 65.00 a month, i called the f.o.c and asked them shouldn’t i get child support now? they said i have to pay 60 dollars to file a motion, i don’t understand why sense the courts know i have him more now, i recently lost my job and collecting unemployment so i am on a fixed income and really can’t afford the 60.00, she was even in rehab for 7 months and the court would not allow her to see him during that time, and i was still paying child support, the actual support payments were not going directly to her, as she was on fia. this has been going on for over 3 yrs and i spent over 2000.00 on child support when i pay for everything, school clothes, lunch money, field trips, etc… she gives me nothing. i personally do not care about the money however . i live 45 minutes away from her house and we take turns dropping him off and picking up, i drop him off on fridays and she drops him off back to my house on mondays, so i thought to compensate for the child support she can do all the driving. she doesn’t want to do that because she feels like i should have to help out because gas is so high, so what is the law? the court order stipulation just has the parenting time schedule for her but doesn’t say what parent has to do the driving, except when he goes to school the stipulation says that on monday morning she is to drop him off at school in proper school attire. but doesn’t say anything about dropping him off at her house, for the weekend so I figured when school starts that i continue letting her take him to school like she supposed to and make her pick him up as well, i’m not keeping him from her she can pick him up anytime she wants, so it’s not kidnapping. will i still be breaking the law? or as the parent with physical custody not allowed to do that. I live in michigan. thanks allot
#1 by Mrs.Ellis on July 7, 2010 - 1:48 am
You need to ask a legal counselor or go on google to several legal websites. In such a case I would not consult the opinion of strangers over the law. When it comes to divorce and child custody and child support it should not be taken lightly and you should obtain all of the legal facts legally.
#2 by sheloves_dablues on July 7, 2010 - 2:28 am
The court ordered visitation is the MINIMUM access. IF you work out an agreement for her to see your child more often, that’s great.
But why didn’t you address support when you were awarded full custody? You’re entitled to it. You’d be crazy not to spend the $60 to file the motion. You’ll get back so much more than $60.
#3 by i_ate_sponge_bob on July 7, 2010 - 2:40 am
First off file for child support, you should of told them you had no income and they should of dropped it right down anyway.
Second there is nothing to say you have to take him to her house, you wouldn’t be in contempt of court by refusing to drive him and telling her she has to pick him up (in fact that is usual for most weekend parents that they do the picking up and the dropping off) however if she starts to refuse to take him to school she can be held in contempt of court.