I have full custody of my child, and his father has left the picture voluntary about a year and a half. Would that be considered an abandonment in Ohio? I have recently filed motion to file terminate his visitations, because I don't want him doing what he did before he disappeared. My son is 3, and he never stuck with the visitation that the court has ordered, instead, he was late getting him or no show. Now, after some time has passed, he decided that he wants to see him after that he got served. Its like a game to him. I want to put my Son's best interest at best, but not use him as a bait. Make sense? I am not trying to keep him from his Father, but want this to be for the right reason. Please help. We have a hearing date on May 9th, 2011

This is posted as a "read first" at the top of this forum.

In Ohio (from my research) both parents can be charged with child abandonment if both fail to have contact with the child for a period. By law that abandonment must be reported to Child Protective Services. That is not your situation.

You can't charge him with abandonment when he is attempting to see the child.

You CAN request limited visitation OR supervised visitation IF he is a danger to the child.

You cannot force a parent to visit with a child. If he wants no contact, he can have no contact but he is not going to lose his parental rights.

Does he pay support?

Did this person NOT understand that you don't want his rights terminated, just his visits cut off or at least monitored? We just have to have faith that your attorney has good sense and will see this for what it really is-which is a power trip for him. He doesn't pay his child support all the time. He hasn't worked for over 5 years.

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Originally Posted by ScotIrish77

Did this person NOT understand that you don't want his rights terminated, just his visits cut off or at least monitored? We just have to have faith that your attorney has good sense and will see this for what it really is-which is a power trip for him. He doesn't pay his child support all the time. He hasn't worked for over 5 years.

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"This person" understood full well what you asked. You want to know if the father is "guilty" of child abandonment. You don't want his rights teminated, you just want them cut off. What's the difference?

I understood this on ALL the threads you opened. Carry this attitude into Court and, you are going to lose. The same thing goes for text speak. Use full words in your papers and testimony.

I don't think you can do it anyway.

If he doesn't pay child support take him back into Court. Maybe they can persuade him to work.

If you have such faith in your Attorney, why are you here asking for opinions?

I actually work in the Courts in NY so I do have some knowledge of these proceedings.

The state of Ohio will probably send you BOTH to mediation. I have a similar problem but mines been going on for over 9 years. I can tell you mediation will only seem like a power trip but it is court record and is a way to get anything truly on record. My ex broke 3 agreements through mediation and now I have the say as to when and where and how long and the standard 30 minutes late termanates the visit and you don't have to let him see the child. Some counties are stricked about the standard rule. If there is no order or a broken order for visitation they prefer you to try to stick to the standard laws of visitation. Good luck and just a note on support my ex is behind over 23,000. In Ohio support and visitation are 2 different cases. Child support feels if they visit they will pay but most time that is not what happens.

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Originally Posted by ScotIrish77

I have full custody of my child, and his father has left the picture voluntary about a year and a half. Would that be considered an abandonment in Ohio? He never kept in contact with us or anything. He hasn't had any emotional connection to my Son. His girlfriend has been prison recently and don't really have good record. My son is very young, and he never stuck with the visitation that the court has ordered, instead, he was late getting him or no show. Now, after some time has passed, he decided that he wants to see him after that he got served. Its like a game to him. I want to put my Son's best interest at best, but not use him as a bait. Make sense? I am not trying to keep him from his Father, but want this to be for the right reason. Please help.

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Why is the original question cut and pasted - with nothing else added?

I am not familiar with this program, so bear with me. I apologize. I was thinking I was editing, but I guess I wasn't. I have concerns, but afraid to ask out in public. However, I will ask this since you work in the law field and were kind enough to answer my question before. I apologize if there were an offense to you before, but I do understand to why there is an confusion. I am wondering if there's a program where if there's an "absent" parent has been out of the picture for some time with no contact, and then reappears where the court system could help that parent to have some kind emotional connection to the child and being supervised for some periods? Until the child is comfortable? I had to take my child to see the Father on set days for couple hours in a public settings against my will just recently, and I am trying to be the good person here, and work with him. I haven't seen any emotional connection from the Father, and he's either texting on his phone or bringing people and having them interacting with our child. I'm trying to be patience and understanding, but to me if he's the one who wants to see our child then why not come alone, and interact with our child directly? There's more to it, but it's too long to get into. Do I make sense?

Yes you make sense, but the courts want to give the father a chance. Document the visits show what he has been doing, then go back to the court for a modification.

I have and did. We have an hearing approaching next week. I feel my lawyer isn't on my side. I recently discovered that my child's father seems to think that it was me that set up the day and time of the "supervised" visitation even though it's not court ordered, but it wasn't. I was bombarded by my lawyer's assistant. I'm confused on who really set up the whole thing, and I can't seem to ever talk to my lawyer for the past month. I know lawyers are busy. I'm trying to keep in faith in the Lord to help us get through this. Even if I have to go through this alone. I'm trying to decide if my lawyer is worth keeping or should I ask for another one since I can't afford one? Should I try to talk to the Judge beforehand?

First, when posting a follow-up question or info, please use the Answer options at the bottom of the page rather than the Comments.

No you don't try to talk to the judge beforehand. This is known as ex parte communication and is generally not allowed. You don't need to talk directly to your attorney, just someone in his office who is working on your case. But if no one responds to you, shop around for another attorney and tell your attorney you will be doing so if his office is not more responsive.