Joint Custody after 10 years! Please help!

I’m biting my lip on this one…

quote:
[i]Originally posted by hawkman[/i] [br]I'm biting my lip on this one.....

Uh oh. Why?

My understanding has always been that, as long as the father pays on-time child support, he will be able to have visitation with the child as long as there is no threat on the child. If he poses a threat, then you need to take these issues to the court.

I have no doubt the court will order visitation, but given the length of time with NO contact, it’s unlikely he will get joint custody. You should hire a counselor\therapist as an expert witness on the possible effect on your young daughter, who is not aware of who he is. The courts encourage biological parents to have contact with their children, but in your case I think you should inform the court of the possible danger - if you have tangible proof…

Good luck!

That’s pretty much what I feared. As I said, there’s more to it that I can’t go into on a Public Forum, but I appreciate your responses. Thank you very much!

Eleven years ago I became pregnant and had a daughter following a brief affair with a married man. I’m not proud of it, but I love my daughter more than anything. The absent father pays Court-Ordered Child Support but has had nothing else to do with either me or our child - not a phone call, a card, NOTHING - and I am fine with that. I have nothing to say to him, and other than having a wonderful daughter, wish I had never met him. Now after 10 years he has hired an attorney in order to try to get joint custody and visitation rights. For reasons I cannot go into here, his wife poses an immediate physical threat to my family and I. My daughter has no idea who her biological father is and calls my husband ‘Daddy’. I had every intention of telling her everything when she is old enough to understand, but do not wish to have this forced upon her at just 10 years of age. Do I have grounds to fight his request? I don’t believe he is doing this out of ‘best interests’ or ‘guilt’ - his attorney’s letter came just weeks after he was ordered to increase Child Support payments. I would appreciate any help anyone can offer. Thank you!