Articles Posted in Custody/Time-Sharing

The ideal situation for minor children with divorced parents is, of course, for the parents to avoid conflict and collaborate as much as possible. Sadly, this doesn’t always happen. Parents may use the legal system, not as a last-resort vehicle for protecting the best interests of the children, but as a means for venting every frustration they feel toward their ex. If your ex hauls you into court alleging contempt, it is essential that you take the contempt case seriously, regardless of your opinion of the merits of his/her case. Being found in contempt can have serious negative implications for your life, including your relationship with your children, so defend against this kind of case vigorously with the help of an experienced South Florida timesharing and visitation lawyer.

It is always important to make certain that you follow the terms of the court’s order on timesharing and visitation very carefully and precisely. However, sometimes, your ex-spouse may try to allege contempt, not because you violated a black-and-white provision of the order, but merely because he/she was angry that you did not do things “her way” or “his way.” Just because you did something that was contrary to your ex-spouse’s preferences, that’s not contempt unless it is also contrary to what the judge ordered.

Presenting a successful defense against a contempt allegation, then, sometimes is simply a matter of establishing that the wrongful action you allegedly took was something that was not discussed in the trial court’s order. Take, for example, this timesharing and visitation scenario from the other side of the state.

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Here in Florida, the law strongly favors keeping the things discussed between you and your doctor or mental health provider private. There’s the doctor-patient privilege and the psychotherapist-patient privilege… and there are only a few situations where those privileges can be overcome. However, if you think that your ex-spouse’s addiction and/or mental health problems are potentially placing your children’s health and safety at risk and you need his/her medical records to prove it, now is not the time simply to assume there’s nothing you can do about it. Instead, reach out to an experienced South Florida family law attorney and find out what steps can be taken to protect your children.

A few months ago, this blog took a look at a parental responsibility dispute between a father and a mother from Polk County, the latter of whom was undergoing mental health care. In that case, the court ultimately ruled that the mother was not required to disclose her mental health records because she never did anything in that legal custody case to make her mental health an issue.

Now, we are going to look at the other side of that coin. Say you need to obtain your ex-spouse’s mental health and/or substance abuse records and get them before the judge. To do that, you need to prove that the privilege has been waived.

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Timesharing cases often can be among the most contentious types of family law matters. Sometimes, though, it’s very different. You want your ex to have time – maybe even the majority of the time – with the children, just like your parenting plan says. But lately, he/she has begun displaying troubling behaviors – perhaps indicative substance issues or maybe mental health problems. Now your focus is primarily upon ensuring the safety of your child. When you’re in that kind of situation, make certain you are doing everything you can to protect your child’s well-being. That includes retaining an experienced South Florida family law attorney.

For V.L., a mom from Naples involved in a parenting dispute, the “red flag” about her ex-husband’s mental health was a timesharing exchange in late November 2019. At some point during that exchange, the father phoned the police. An officer arrived and, upon encountering the man, “determined that the father was suffering from an anxiety attack and was in a ‘practically paralyzed’ state, barely able to communicate.”

The episode was so bad that had the child not already been scheduled to go to V.L. anyway, the officer “would not have allowed the father to leave with or without the child while he was in such a state due to the officer’s fear for the father’s and child’s safety.” The responding officer told V.L. of the officer’s “concerns about the father’s ability to care for the child during an emergency.”

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