I am a father of 3 under the age of 13 in Florida. I filed for divorce in January due to my wife having several affairs throughout our marriage but the last one put me over the top. She dropped me and my kids off after an argument on Jan 1 and did her own thing. She stayed with friends for two weeks partying. She did call and talk to the kids at least once a day, but only saw them twice in those two weeks when she picked them up for an hour and brought them back. I filed for divorce and asked for custody of the kids. I was granted tempory custody and she was ordered to pay support. She gets visitation with the kids on the weekends. I have not denied her any visitation even though she is not abiding by the court order to pay support. There are restraining orders in place, so there is no contact between us unless there is an emergency with the kids. I was a stay at home dad at the time of the split. She has only paid one week of the three weeks of support that is due. In the six weeks that I have had the kids she has only paid $100. My question is since she left both me and the kids is that considered abandonment? She is now asking for custody of the kids after dumping them off with me with no money. Oh and one more thing, she cut off the cable and phone from the house after leaving, so my kids and I are now staying with my parents until I am able to get back on my feet.

If she is ordered to maintain the home, she might be at fault for turning off the phone... not the cable. As for abandonment, no dice... she didn't abandon anyone.

She can be found in contempt for not paying her child support and you need to report that to the court every time she misses a payment.

She can ask for custody if she wants... but given the history to date, it isn't looking like taking custody from you is in the best interest of the kids... but ultimately that is for the court to decide.

Another question... Both the restraining order and temporaru custody order say that the non custodial parent cannot be present during pick up and drop off the children for visitation. It specifically says that my parents must drop off the kids and that her father must pick up and bring the kids back. Well we are into the first weekend since this was put into effect and her father picked the kids up but she broght them back. We were all in the courtroom when the judge said her father must do both pick and drop off. So now what? Do I call the sheriff and say she is violating both orders or do I wait and go back to the clerks office and file an affadavit to this effect? She has already violated the order once and called when she wasn't supposed to, but somehow got out of iit with the sheriff by saying she didn't understand the order. We were all in the courtroom including the grandparents when the judge said aloud that her father most pick and drop off. The judge indicated that if there was another violation that someone would be going to jail.

What would be the best course of action?

Another question... Both the restraining order and temporaru custody order say that the non custodial parent cannot be present during pick up and drop off the children for visitation. It specifically says that my parents must drop off the kids and that her father must pick up and bring the kids back. Well we are into the first weekend since this was put into effect and her father picked the kids up but she broght them back. We were all in the courtroom when the judge said her father must do both pick and drop off. So now what? Do I call the sheriff and say she is violating both orders or do I wait and go back to the clerks office and file an affadavit to this effect? She has already violated the order once and called when she wasn't supposed to, but somehow got out of iit with the sheriff by saying she didn't understand the order. We were all in the courtroom including the grandparents when the judge said aloud that her father most pick and drop off. The judge indicated that if there was another violation that someone would be going to jail.

What would be the best course of action?

Since there is an active restraining order in place you need to enforce it by calling the police. Do so every time she violates it. Keep strict records. Your going to need it if you want custody and don't allow her to break orders. Some states don't allow you to file contempt for missing child support unless it goes over $1,000 so before you file charges on that then check with your agency. She should be paying through them and a wage garnishment should be in place. If not get one.