Jurisdiction:
Area of Law:
Question:
Selected Answer:
Submitted by DakotaLegal on
All Comments
Submitted by DakotaLegal on
Let’s start with the easier part of your question first, which is: what might be the result of your not following the court order? Some of what may happen may sound much worse than it is likely to be. I just want the most frightening thoughts to be dealt with and put away for a bit. You probably won’t lose custody or re-open an entirely new custody battle.
If finding affordable legal help is an issue, try here: https://requestlegalhelp.com/ legal-services/?Landing_Page=west%2520texas%2520 legal%2520services& SRC=GoogleGeneral&gclid=CIL7-8fE_rMCFY p_QgodwEgAbQ. So, we’ll talk about the realties of what happened, and what you might want to do about it. 1. You could be held in contempt for not following a court order. 2. You could get a severe reprimand in a public setting and 2a. even ordered to a parenting class. 3. You might be ordered to pay all legal costs associated with the hearing, including your husband’s legal fees. 3a. You may have to reimburse any costs to your Ex for the missed weekend and give up some time; 4. You might face more hearings so you can defend your actions and show compliance.
The reason a court may see this as an important issue could be if this is part of a continuing problem.
Is This The First Failure To Meet The Order?
A court is going to be much more concerned if this is not the first time the order has not been followed. The court is going to assume that a breach of the order is not in the child’s best interests. A lot of a Court’s custody Order is to facilitate a better relationship between parents only in order to look out for the child’s best interests in the process.
If your Ex can prove a pattern of your interference with the father’s time under the Order, then you may have a problem regarding your ability to have physical or even legal custody. As a possible answer, you might need to argue for a change (or modification) in the Order, if the need to deal with this emergency is likely to be ongoing (e.g., a medical condition). But an occasional emergency is not the same thing as a need for modification, and a judge knows that. http://www.lanwt.org/txaccess/modiorder.asp.
Is Your Ex Planning A Custody Challenge?
Sometimes, it does happen that this is something that an Ex has been planning for any number of reasons. Be honest with yourself, and be able to note any problems you may have caused your Ex. Though each judge is different, and certainly each custody decision is unique in some way, there’s hardly ever a judge who like seeing couples squabble in court. While it may be tempting to get into a “he did it too” argument, it probably won’t do any good if the reason you’re in court is because of your mistake.
What Type Of Emergency Was This?
Along with what the court will want to know about the emergency you had, is how else you could have handled it? There will be a couple of ways to approach this. First, and probably most importantly, you’ll have a burden of explaining why you didn’t apparently follow the rules.
Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean you cannot deal with emergencies. Here’s a book, explaining how emergencies can be handled in the future: http://www.hba.org/folder-services/pdfs/Family-English.pdf. But a question is going to be whether you attempted to follow the legal process to get a change in your Ex’s time. Obviously, the best way is to get consent from the other parent. The sooner you can show you tried to get this consent, the better. If you had two days notice, then you hopefully can prove you gave two days notice to your Ex.
So get ready to explain what happened and try to avoid being defensive…
You’ll have to explain how long the emergency lasted. You’ll need to explain whether the emergency is likely to occur again. Be ready to anticipate your Ex explaining he had plans in place, for his weekend, and this may have cost him some money and opportunity. Your Ex has a right to ask (if it was a short emergency) why didn’t you ask him to take extra time (the time of the emergency plus his weekend)?
In all likelihood, you had good reasons. Accept responsibility, explain what you would do differently, and explain that working with your Ex for your child’s welfare is a priority for you. If your Ex is exaggerating the matter, it’s just as possible a judge will want to send a message to him, too…work with reality, and the reality is: emergencies happen.
Let’s start with the easier part of your question first, which is: what might be the result of your not following the court order? Some of what may happen may sound much worse than it is likely to be. I just want the most frightening thoughts to be dealt with and put away for a bit. You probably won’t lose custody or re-open an entirely new custody battle.
If finding affordable legal help is an issue, try here: https://requestlegalhelp.com/ legal-services/?Landing_Page=west%2520texas%2520 legal%2520services& SRC=GoogleGeneral&gclid=CIL7-8fE_rMCFY p_QgodwEgAbQ. So, we’ll talk about the realties of what happened, and what you might want to do about it. 1. You could be held in contempt for not following a court order. 2. You could get a severe reprimand in a public setting and 2a. even ordered to a parenting class. 3. You might be ordered to pay all legal costs associated with the hearing, including your husband’s legal fees. 3a. You may have to reimburse any costs to your Ex for the missed weekend and give up some time; 4. You might face more hearings so you can defend your actions and show compliance.
The reason a court may see this as an important issue could be if this is part of a continuing problem.
Is This The First Failure To Meet The Order?
A court is going to be much more concerned if this is not the first time the order has not been followed. The court is going to assume that a breach of the order is not in the child’s best interests. A lot of a Court’s custody Order is to facilitate a better relationship between parents only in order to look out for the child’s best interests in the process.
If your Ex can prove a pattern of your interference with the father’s time under the Order, then you may have a problem regarding your ability to have physical or even legal custody. As a possible answer, you might need to argue for a change (or modification) in the Order, if the need to deal with this emergency is likely to be ongoing (e.g., a medical condition). But an occasional emergency is not the same thing as a need for modification, and a judge knows that. http://www.lanwt.org/txaccess/modiorder.asp.
Is Your Ex Planning A Custody Challenge?
Sometimes, it does happen that this is something that an Ex has been planning for any number of reasons. Be honest with yourself, and be able to note any problems you may have caused your Ex. Though each judge is different, and certainly each custody decision is unique in some way, there’s hardly ever a judge who like seeing couples squabble in court. While it may be tempting to get into a “he did it too” argument, it probably won’t do any good if the reason you’re in court is because of your mistake.
What Type Of Emergency Was This?
Along with what the court will want to know about the emergency you had, is how else you could have handled it? There will be a couple of ways to approach this. First, and probably most importantly, you’ll have a burden of explaining why you didn’t apparently follow the rules.
Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean you cannot deal with emergencies. Here’s a book, explaining how emergencies can be handled in the future: http://www.hba.org/folder-services/pdfs/Family-English.pdf. But a question is going to be whether you attempted to follow the legal process to get a change in your Ex’s time. Obviously, the best way is to get consent from the other parent. The sooner you can show you tried to get this consent, the better. If you had two days notice, then you hopefully can prove you gave two days notice to your Ex.
So get ready to explain what happened and try to avoid being defensive…
You’ll have to explain how long the emergency lasted. You’ll need to explain whether the emergency is likely to occur again. Be ready to anticipate your Ex explaining he had plans in place, for his weekend, and this may have cost him some money and opportunity. Your Ex has a right to ask (if it was a short emergency) why didn’t you ask him to take extra time (the time of the emergency plus his weekend)?
In all likelihood, you had good reasons. Accept responsibility, explain what you would do differently, and explain that working with your Ex for your child’s welfare is a priority for you. If your Ex is exaggerating the matter, it’s just as possible a judge will want to send a message to him, too…work with reality, and the reality is: emergencies happen.