Child support and visitation
I have a 9 yr. old daughter whose father I never married. He left us for another woman and leaves me stuck with all his bills and unpaid rent,electricity bill , etc... This all took place 4 months ago. I moved in with my parents until I could get back on my feet again(which I have now). My daughters father all of a sudden after 6 months now that I'm working and back on my feet, decides he wants to see her. Well, in order to keep this out of court(he has some jail time hanging over his head for drug charges) I tried to let him see her. The first time he never showed up to the place we both agreed on, the second time all he wanted to do was argue with me instead of spending time with our daughter(I let him do all the arguing since my daughter was present), and the third time he showed up high and highly intoxicated causing a scene so bad that the cops were called(note... he did this also in front of our daughter.. again) and about went to jail if I hadn't agreed to give him a ride to his place where he is staying. I have custody of her. I tried to make it easy for him to see her without having to go in front of a judge. He is on SSI and I was told that I could not get any kind of support for her (from him or the government) what I would like to know is can he go to court and ask for visitation and can I get any kind of support for her from him? It doesn't seem fair that I'm being so easy about this and he doesn't have to pay a thing and threatens to take her away from me in court. NOTE: He is on drugs and alcohol really bad and has numerous run ins with the law, but everyone seems to critise me for not allowing him more time with her. I've already tried this 3 times and I've kept my mouth shut about it for my daughter sake, but I fear that if I let him visit with her alone, he will try to take her and leave state or be so high or intoxicated that he will hurt her or cause her to get hurt.NOTE: When we were together he would lay out drunk and stoned for days and weeks at a time, I finally had enough and left him after 9 yrs. Of this crap, I also have 2 other children. He did pay the bills though but that was it. He never spent time with our daughter or ever went to any of her school events or even read her a book or tuck her in a night, I did it all, but now I'm the bad guy in everyone's eyes because I won't let him see her alone without someone being there. Do you blame me? Am I wrong for this? Any advice or comments(good or bad) would be greatly appreciated. BTW... we live in Virginia, if that helps. I'm making it now with my 3 angels and they are truly a gift from GOD to me.