My husband and I have a attorney. We are trying to gain custody of his son. We have hired a GAL. And she thinks that we should have him the months of July and August. We have been traveling to where he lives to visit once a month, it is been hard. We go up there on Friday and we were suppose to have court that day. So we can see if we get to bring him home for the month of aug. We just found out that her attorney is out of town. So they want to change it for the 31st. We are supposed to be back home and working by then. I guess my ? Is can't we have the other parent just represent herself, and if needed we can represent our self too. If we can't get the time off the be there on the 31st.. it will be hard physically and finaccially to get his son back to us for August. And we are paying for everythhing. Plane tickets, child support, a phone! Im not complaining I just think that they need to look at this. For 7 weeks we had no contact with the child... until we took it upon ourselves and bought the child a pay as you go phone. The mother had he car repoed and can't keep her utilities on.

You cannot force her to represent herself. If her lawyer cannot make it, the court will allow it to be rescheduled, and I hate to say it, but you can't do much about it.

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Originally Posted by stevetcg

You cannot force her to represent herself. If her lawyer cannot make it, the court will allow it to be rescheduled, and I hate to say it, but you can't do much about it.

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Can we do anything about the cost of tickets and such.

You can ask the court for reimbursement but I doubt you will get it especially if this isn't a recurring issue.

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Originally Posted by stevetcg

You can ask the court for reimbursement but I doubt you will get it especially if this isnt a recurring issue.

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So all of the parenting time is temporary. We took her to court, because of her husband and her abusing the child. We have police reports and everything. The step father was charged for assault on the boy. All he got was parenting classes and dv classes. The GAL said that the whole thing was troubling, and also said that she found out that the mother is making the child do wall sits. Which is physical punishment. BUT she doesn't think that the child should move a state away. Which she put clear across the country... which is not the case.

Could we ask the court to evaluate mental illness in the mother? I know that may seem odd, but she has had a past of trying to commit suicide and always seems troubled?

Again, you can ask, but ultimately it is up to the court. Were I you, I would have a private lawyer with me when addressing any of these issues in court.

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Originally Posted by rhiannahunt

So all of the parenting time is temporary. We took her to court, because of her husband and her abusing the child. we have police reports and everything. The step father was charged for assualt on the boy. All he got was parenting classes and dv classes. the GAL said that the whole thing was troubling, and also said that she found out that the mother is making the child do wall sits. Which is physical punishment. BUT she doesnt think that the child should move a state away. which she put clear across the country....which is not the case.

could we ask the court to evaluate mental illness in the mother? I know that may seem odd, but she has had a past of trying to commit suicide and always seems troubled?

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Can you ask that the mother be evaluated ? Its not likely unless you have enough proof to back it up. But what might sound better to the courts is to ask for a parental evaluation.. that way everyone gets checked out. Including her new spouse and the DV charges. Your husband and yourself will be checked into also as well as have tests to perform. The courts are more favorable to it because everyone is involved and not just 1 party.

Here is a clue as to what one is about :

A Guide To The Parenting Evaluation Process