I've been having consistent problems with visitation regarding my 8-year old daughter who lives with her mother in NY. I'm supposed to have her every other weekend plus shared holidays; however, my ex-wife always has various reasons as to why I can't have my daughter as scheduled, or I have to drive the whole 2 hours to pick up and return my daughter because my ex can't meet me half-way; or sometimes she simply calls and says I can't see my daughter because of something I did or said that upset my ex. My daughter is really starting to suffer the consequences of the whole situation and I'm to the point where I feel like I really need to do something but don't know exactly what to do. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I would really appreciate the help.

You can always ask the court to grant you custody. But, lotsa luck. First you have to realize that the deck is stacked against you because you are the father and she's the mother. Secondly, you'd have to prove, by at least a preponderance of the evidence, that what you claim concerning your ex-wife is true and that it creates an unhealthy situation for your daughter. That is easier said than done. You might want to start by contacting child social services, or whatever it's called in your state, and express your concerns. You'll get them to act a lot faster if you can convince them that your ex-wife is abusing or neglecting your daughter. Once that happens, they can step in and take custody, then you can apply to the court to have it transferred to you.

You will basically never get custody. My husband is going through this, the court just shrugs it off and issues a new order. The mother even told the judge she was not going to comply, and nothing is still being done. As far as social services goes, unless you can catch it on video or audio tape they will do nothing either. My husbands daughters mother lives with a registered sex offender, who has even went so far as to destroy the baby's crib and all the presents we bought her for christmas, social services says this is not abuse. We are still trying so keep faith and just keep trying.