What's the possibility he can file for Mod to Custody Again?

Recap of my situation:

Ex filed for Mod to Custody when I notified him I was moving to FL to take a job. Same man who barely had anything to do with his kids for six years. We had a partial hearing in Feb and the final hearing was 6/5, but he didn’t bother to show - I did. Judge was really nice too.

Unfortunately, when I filed a response and counter motion, I did not ask for custody to be re-determined, so his Motion was dismissed and we just go back to the original 2004 order, which also does not specify any visitation (only as the parties agree).

So stupid now is threatening to “take me to court” again.

Can he justify a change of circumstance at this point? How does his not showing for his own Motion affect?

I’m just plain sick of traveling back and forth between NC and FL for silliness. I have been there five times, just for a reduction to child support motion and it is still hanging out there.

Just a suggestion.

Since he didn’t show up at the last hearing and you now live in Fl, why don’t you ask the judge to have the case moved to Fl? File in the courts where you live with a copy of the RED certified stamp copy. Ask for Fl to take over.

That’s a good suggestion, but I’m not sure how beneficial it might be right now. First, I have been told I have a 50/50 chance of getting a change of venue.

Second, it is something I would definitely need the benefit of an attorney to do and I am completey out of funds from all the $ I spent on an attorney for this case.

Third, we have only been in FL for about a year now. All of my witnesses are back in NC, so if he were to file again, I would really want the case close to all the witnesses. The only truely beneficial witness I would get here in FL is the girls counselor.

Of course, I would get the huge benefit of his having to come here for any actions and I seriously doubt he would bother if it meant coming here for court.

Thanks for the suggestion, though. It might be the best option at some point.

Well, I got papers yesterday. He filed a Motion to Modify Visitation. After not showing at the last hearing, here we go again.

Your ex’s behavior is certainly out of hand, he is abusing the system and I would say one could even call his actions malicious. You may want to consider filing a Rule 11 motion against him which should allege that he is not acting in good faith and that his motion is not warranted by law. You should allege that he is interposing the action simply for purposes of harassment.

Thank you for your response and I will check into Rule 11.

I went home early with a sick child on Monday. Not 10 minutes after I got home, a knock on the door - the mailman with a certified envelope. He has indeed filed another Motion and here we go again.

I’m so irritated that I have to go through this again. I have to miss work and my kids have to miss school for this nonsense.

The worst part is what it is doing to my kids. Their dad had little to nothing to do with them, files for custody, suddenly starts calling them practically every day. Decides not to pursue custody, stops calling them for several months, decided to file again, and suddenly the telephone calls begin again. Its disgusting!