My sons father and I have an agreement filed with the court stating what his visitation will be. He was served with child support papers on Friday and now refuses to return my son to me. I went to the police department and they told me to take the police report and the court order with me to court in the morning and he will be charged with contempt of court. It appears that even with a court orderI still have no way to ensure my son is returned to me. Is there anything I can do? Will this give me grounds for supervised visitation to ensure this does not happen again?
Something that will save some time with getting your question answered;
Was the agreement signed by a judge and made an order? Or was it just filed with the clerk of court?
Who has legal custoy?
I am surprised that the police did not assist you in having your child returned, as they should when presented with a valid court order.
The judge will not change custody in a contempt hearing, but if your ex continues to violated the order it may give your grounds for a modification down the road.
The agreement was just filed with the clerk of court, my error for not hiring a lawyer immediately . I trusted the agreement and my ex, I was naive. My son has been in my custody since he was born, his father and I split up when he was 2 months old. His father has been in and out of his life since then. I have been told my options are to file for emergency custody based on his pain pill addiction and the fact that in nearly incapacitates him and he still drives with my son in the vehicle. This will take as much as 10 days and to file for custody which can take as many as 30 days to get a court date and see a judge. I am at a loss right now, how can this be okay in the legal system?
Emergency motions are heard the day they are filed, or the next day. It is a temporary hearing that can take 30 days before you can be heard.
So even the emergency hearing can take 30 days?
No. It is heard that day, or the next.