Ex-wife's new husband interferring with court ordered visitation

1

I have a court order for visitation of our 7 year old son and on numerous occasions my ex-wife has made a myriad of excuses to attempt to withhold visitation and most recently she refused to show for court ordered visitation at the meeting place. It was for weekend visitation. I’ve typically been very passive to keep the peace for the sake of our son, but for the first time I texted her that if she did not show that I would contact the sheriff and have them accompany me to her residence to exercise my court ordered visitation. To which she replied, “that’s fine.” This is the first time that I have been to her home since she moved unannounced to another city a year ago. When I arrived with the sheriff, her new husband was sitting on the lawn in front of their home. He had a dialogue on the lawn with the police officer and I heard him say that he was okay with being in violation of the court order and they would take this to court, but they are not going to allow visitation. There was a standoff for more than 2 hours on the front lawn between the new husband, the ex-wife, and the officer, and then a 2nd officer showed up, a sargent I think, who tried to reason with the new husband. I was waiting patiently in my car for over 2 hours while the police officer’s handled the situation. I should note that her new husband is also a police officer in another county and on numerous occasions has tried to intimidate me at custodial exchanges. I have police reports to document the no-show at the meeting place and also the visit from two officers at her residence. After 2 hours, they conceded and I was able to finally leave with my son for my weekend visitation. I have visitation again this week and my ex has already said that she would not allow me to have visitation with our son.

My questions are:

  1. What can I do legally to prevent the new husband from interferring with my custody and visitation order?

  2. Does the fact the the new husband is a police officer rise to the level of police misconduct and can it be or should it be reported? I certainly don’t want more trouble.

  3. How do I enforce my court ordered visitations without the continual denials and drama from the ex?

Gordon

2

(1) You should file a contempt motion (motion and order to appear and show cause) against your ex-wife for not following the court order and for willfully refusing to have your son ready and available on time for your scheduled custodial time. In the motion and at the court date, you can present your evidence about how her husband is equally interfering however, the husband is not a party to the custody order so all responsibility ultimately falls on your ex-wife.

(2) The husband is encouraging his wife to not follow a court order, which he shouldn’t do as a police officer, however, it sounds like he is doing this on his personal time and not during the time that he is working and on duty.

(3) You need to file the contempt motion (motion and order to appear and show cause). A judge will not like to hear the details of what has happened to prevent your custodial time pursuant to his or her court order.

Anna Ayscue

Attorney with Rosen Law Firm Cary • Chapel Hill • Durham • Raleigh • Wake Forest

Rosen Online | Unlimited confidential access to a North Carolina attorney for $199/mo - click here

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