First and foremost I would like to thank you before responding to your post C.Russ. I have been a wanderer from this site for a few months taking answers from previous threads and posts. I think your value here is under appreciated.
12/8 I have a date in Rowan county where my infant son resides as I am filing Pro se for custody of him, I have filed all the proper papers and the defendant has recently gotten a lawyer and is asking for an extension to reply to the lawsuit, I filed the papers for the date before the defendant put the motion in, So my guess is that in court her lawyer will have to answer why she wants an extension and I will have to counter claim the motion correct? My second question is can this possibly move our mediation date back? A date hasn’t been set yet. I am trying to settle in mediation and have my son home for the holidays.
Thank you very much for your kind words. I am glad that we at Rosen can provide this service to the public, and appreciate that our efforts are helping people.
I have to say that it is very unlikely you will have your custody mediation ahead of the holidays if you don’t have a date yet. You have to also get a custody mediation orientation date first, with the actual mediation occuring several weeks or so after that. The other attorney requesting an extension to have an additional 30 days to answer is pretty standard. If he filed it and mailed it to you, then there is nothing you can do about it. You are allowed to file for an additional 30 days to Answer if you have a Complaint filed against you. Good luck to you.
Thank you for your response, I went to court and received an orientation date for mediation which is set for next Wednesday which is really quick so I’m happy about this. You stated that they probably will not set the actual mediation date before the holidays, Is there a motion that can possibly allow temporary visitation until a parenting agreement is signed? There was a 6 month order for visitation but she never once allowed me to see my son thru that, So my guess is that I will just have to wait until mediation or trial.
Yes, you will likely need to wait for trial or mediation. I don’t see how you could have grounds for emergency custody from the facts presented. You could file contempt against her if she hasn’t followed the visitation schedule that has been in place for six months, especially if she’s never let you see him.
So we went to mediation and failed miserably, in large part due to a lack of communication and the what seemed what the mediators main goal was to work on or relationship more than establish a parenting agreement. I would like to file a motion and order to return to custody mediation since it was such an abomination in mediation we didn’t see a need to go to a second one, but I believe if we talk before hand as it seemed she still had her emotions in play as she was crying that things will go a lot smoother. My question is to file the order to return to mediation will it need both the plaintiffs (me) and the defendants (her) signature or can she (if she is willing to return) sign it at the hearing?
There is only one court-ordered mediation for child custody cases. If you want another mediation, then the two of you will need to agree on that, pick a mediator and pay his fees–which the parties typically split (this is usually an hourly rate). You should plan to do this mediation ahead of the permanent custody trial, but keep that date scheduled in case mediation fails again. Good luck to you.