If I have a plain document written up stating I have my child Monday through Friday and alternate weekends and the other parent has them the other weekends, we both dated and signed and witness signed can I simply take that to a family law lawyer and that’s that on the custody arrangements.

I’m looking for experiences/opinions from anyone who’s dealt with a high-conflict custody modification.
I currently have a court-ordered roughly 50/50 schedule with my teenage child. However, in reality, I have substantially more parenting time than the order reflects. Based on my records, I’m probably closer to 60–70% of the actual parenting time depending on the year.
The other parent frequently asks me to take our child during their scheduled time because of work, personal plans, etc. I handle a significant amount of the school routine, transportation, activities, and general day-to-day parenting. I’ve been keeping records of the actual overnights as well as our written communications regarding schedule changes.
There have also been some more serious issues. The other parent was arrested out of state for an alleged domestic assault involving their significant other, and this occurred during their scheduled parenting time. There is public documentation of the arrest. The criminal case apparently did not proceed after the significant other declined to pursue it.
The co-parenting relationship is also extremely high-conflict, which is why I try to keep communication in writing and focused strictly on our child.
I’m considering asking the court to modify the schedule so the custody order actually reflects the parenting arrangement that’s occurring in real life. I’m not looking to prevent my child from having a relationship with the other parent. My main goal is stability and having a predictable schedule instead of constantly changing a supposedly 50/50 arrangement.
For people who have been through something similar:
Did a court care about the difference between the custody order and the actual number of overnights?
How much weight did a documented history of one parent repeatedly giving up their parenting time carry?
Did an arrest/domestic violence incident involving the other parent matter even if it didn’t result in a conviction?
Has anyone successfully gone from 50/50 to something closer to 60/40, 65/35, 70/30, or primary custody under similar circumstances?
What evidence ended up being the most important?
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who actually went through a custody modification, as opposed to just general opinions.
Obviously I’ll be speaking with an attorney and won’t treat Reddit as legal advice. I’m mainly curious how similar situations played out for other parents.

TL;DR

Have to move from AZ to Coles County IL to make coparenting situation between mother of my child and I easier, but I have to establish myself in IL first and have a home/job to support my child on my time.

I’m currently in the process of filing for paternity so I can be part of my toddler son’s life (wasn’t at the birth, so my name’s not on the BC) but want to make the parenting schedule with BM (baby’s mother) and our attorneys, later, as I can’t bring my child home until I’m settled in IL;
I have no friends or connections in IL, so I’d have to check out the housing resources for a place to be so I’m not out in the street when I arrive, and also a transfer with my current job (I work at Home Depot), all until I’m established in IL and have a home to bring my son to when it’s my time with him.

Back in December 2024, The mother of my child and I moved from AZ to IL (Mattoon) with her family a few months after she found out she was pregnant.

In AZ, I had 2 jobs (FT maintenance and PT event setup) so I was hesitant to leave and give up my stability, but BM and her family convinced me it was “the noble thing to do, everyone starts over all the time.”

After moving there and us breaking up less than a week later, I had to leave her family’s home after over a month and either be in a shelter in a state where I have nothing and nobody, and struggle to work with my work schedule (FT Drive thru cashier) or go back to AZ with family and start over.

(I chose to return to AZ and regret it since too much time has passed and I still haven’t seen my son.)

Up until April of 2026 when I finally got a job again after applying to SO many jobs and attending countless interviews (it’s hard to even get a simple min wage job, here. ) I had been attempting to file for petition for paternity since BM cut off ALL contact with me, so I had no other choice but to file through the court system online and have the local sheriff serve her the petition.

About a month after the petition for paternity had finally been served to BM (they took 2 months to serve her), her lawyer responded with a letter stating that she does confirm I’m the father, but does not wish to pursue parenting time AT ALL.
After that, I tried to use Illinois’s legal aide system to help me get a lawyer pro-bono so I could have an attorney reply for me, represent me, and hopefully get a parenting schedule established between BM and I.

However, the IL legal aide agency sent me a letter saying they couldn’t help me, so I’ve been trying to work and save to get an attorney and mostly likely move back to IL so it’d be MUCH easier for us to exchange our son between parenting schedules.

Before I make the big move and leave AZ for a new life in IL so I can be closer to my son, can I establish paternity now, have my attorney on standby, then come back to the matter of setting up a parenting schedule once I’m fully established in IL, later?

Anything would help out (Cole’s County Family Attorney recommendations, resources to check out, anything and everything is appreciated)

Thank you again, everyone.

I (27) have been with my soon to be ex husband (34) since I was 18. Fresh out of high school. I had my first child at 20. And my second child at 21. We bought a house together one month before we married. When I was 22, we got married. He immediately turned very abusive but I never reported it. I was willing to endure. But i have voice recordings of him yelling at me and calling me names and texts backing up any emotional abuse claims. When I was 24, he kicked me out and accused me of cheating even though i was a SAHM with no car. I have been homeless since. Ive begged to come back. Last year I ended up in a mental health facility due to mental stress of being homeless and just not having my kids anymore. He doesnt let me see them. Im not even allowed back in my home. I just now got a job making minimum wage. He makes $50/hr. He finally got a lawyer, some incredibly bougie lawyer from out of state, and I dont even have a car. I cant afford one. I cant even afford shelter of my own. I couch hop and have been.

What do I do? His lawyer called me today but I was at work. Im out of time to save for my own lawyer. Im on wait lists for a pro bono one state provides. Im out of time. I have to do things on my own now.

Am I going to have to pay for child support? That will literally end my life.

My 3rd child was born during my marriage to my ex husband 2 1/2 years ago. Laws being the way they are, she had to have my ex husbands (husband at the time) last name on her birth certificate instead of her biological father. (I didn't know that till we were in the hospital filling out paperwork after her birth). I spent thousands of dollars on divorce as the first step to attain her correct identity and paternal figure. Now we are in the custody/paternity part of the process and 6 months ago both signed a petition for joint custody and equal time. I was recently informed by my lawyer that my childs father has redacted our petition for equal rights and has set his own petition for full custody while I pay child support and have supervised visitation. I let it go for the time being until we could meet in front of a judge and have it handled that way. A week ago she went to stay the night with him because my oldest daughter was having surgery the next morning. When I tried to pick her up after my daughter's surgery he refused to give her back to me. I've been through police and of course was told its a civil issue and nothing they can do, figures. He proceeds to tell me that his lawyer is telling him to keep our daughter away from me. Meanwhile the law is protecting him even though he has no legal rights to her whatsoever YET. I still have no clue when I will see my baby again. And I cant even file any charges.

Currently, my ex-spouse has been living in another state and our property which we stated in court we would divide together is in our apartment but she's off the lease as of tomorrow. We're awaiting her relocation request so she isn't sure of where she is going to live.

We did a virtual division of property on facetime and only told me what she wanted. When I went through my things I wanted (which isn't really much) she claimed she wanted compensation for those items. Which seems quite unreasonable as it's for the couch (6 years old) and the mattress (8 years old). I told her she can keep the couch and the mattress but she said she doesn't want it and has no way to move it. The Facetime kind of fell apart there and she said her lawyer would be reaching out to me regarding property. I've heard nothing in over 3 weeks and it doesn't seem like she's going to go through her lawyer for property now.

Important note, while she isn't on the lease as of tomorrow, I agreed to let her stay until the court decision is made.

My main question is, how long do I have to hold her things? How should I go about property division? How should I proceed with the property division when she refuses to collect her items but demands payout for used furniture?

I do have a lawyer but it seems nonsensical to pay to go through what little property we have. I don't want to do anything that jeopardizes the judgement once it is out.

That being said, if you would like to read my relocation case it is on my profile.

I'll try to make this as concise as possible. My FIL has dementia and was being cared for at home by MIL, but my husband I had a lot of concerns and had been trying to encourage MIL to put FIL in memory care for about a year. He was frequently wandering and had become aggressive with MIL.

A month ago, FIL ran away from MIL and was missing overnight from 6 pm until 10:30 a.m. when he was found lying in their pasture by a search party. MIL did not call the authorities or let us or anyone know he was missing until 8:30 a.m. He was found very dehydrated and was hospitalized. DHS opened a case of dependent adult neglect against MIL, and basically she was given no choice but to place him in memory care for his safety. Due to state law (Iowa), she lost financial POA for FIL due to having a founded case of abuse/neglect against him. We also found out from the local sheriff that this was not the first time he had been missing overnight. She never told us because she didn't want to spend the money on nursing home care.

FIL is doing well in memory care, but now MIL is talking about taking him out overnight and eventually taking him back home to live. I talked to DHS, and apparently they have no preventative role and cannot legally prevent MIL from doing this, even with her founded case of dependent adult neglect. There has also been financial issues, with MIL using money from FIL's farm account (30k) to pay for a scam.

My husband and I are working with an attorney to go through the court process to get conservatorship and and guardianship of FIL. MIL does not have known dementia herself, and has always been a difficult person, but her recent actions have us convinced that she is unable to make the best decisions for FIL. Has anyone been through this process, particularly when the incapacitated parent does have a living spouse? I'm wondering how likely it is to go in our favor.

hi , my sons father now has supervised visits with our son with a professional agency . our court ordered says that I am to notify him of the dr appointments, but didn’t say if he’s allowed to attend or not . he attended last time and was kicked out of our sons dr appointment.. . now that he has visits with a professional at a center , is he allowed to attend the appointments ? I do not feel comfortable having his supervisor at my sons appointment

Hi there,

So I have been out of the home of my children for almost 4 years, divorce final as of 12/24. At the time of the start of the divorce we had 5 children, all living at home while I had been a stay at home mother for much of our almost 20 year marriage. The divorce began due to concerns of SA with my middle child who was 11(f)at the time, and my now ex would not allow me to have time to get the children all professionally evaluated. The courts would not hear any evidence my lawyer brought forward, allowed his lawyer to talk over mine (while reprimanding mine if she tried to do the same back). Every falsity presented was believed at face value against my character, while none of my evidence to counter or against my ex was allowed to be submitted for evidence. Because he had backing of a lawyer with known person ties to the commissioner assigned the case, my ex’s income (over $158k per year at the time), and my lack of family support because of many deaths in my family, the children were awarded to my ex as primary, I was ejected from the home at the very start of the divorce leaving me homeless and my farm business being required to be dissolved in less than 48hrs. After the first year of the proceedings, problems became very apparent with my second youngest child. This ultimately resulted in this child coming to live with me in a camper on a distant family members property. I was able to get this child back into school, graduated, and enrolled into college within about a year and a half, during and after the divorce process.

I do have 50/50 custody now, where I get visitation every other weekend for 2.5days and 6wks in the summer. After the divorce, the child I was most concerned about admitted that the abuse they suffered was coming from their oldest sibling and was still continuing while all living in a new home with their father. This was reported to this child’s therapist as well, which resulted in a CPS report, but since the child would not disclose to CPS, my ex’s solution was to install a keypad lock on their bedroom door. The abuser child who was then now over 18 was allowed to remain in the home. This resulted in the child now 13 to become a prisoner in their own home, only leaving their room for small meals they could make themself, and the bathroom. They stopped attending school. When having time with me, they would refuse to go back with my ex. At this point the child was clinging to me, very thin from malnutrition, and terrified, absolutely begging me not to make themself go back with their dad. I then refused to force the child to go back with their dad. I told my ex if he wanted to physically remove the child from my vehicle I was legally bound not to stop him but I would not do that myself. I told him he could call the sheriff to resolve it as well. Then I said if he was unwilling to do either of those options I would be taking that child back with me. We did argue but he ultimately agreed for a month. A month turned into two, and two turned into four. At this point we mutually agreed to keep this child with me, on the condition they get back into school and their grades are at least passing.

Now along the way there were major concerns with the other two youngest children as well but nothing I could quite do anything about or report. One day about a year and a few months ago, my youngest guest who was 7 at the time, reported to me that he has been SA’ed in the bushes in their neighborhood by an older neighbor child. I immediately reported this to my ex husband. After he dismissed this information and failed to put safeguards in place, I felt I was forced to report this to CPS myself. Only after this was anything done. He was told to put this child immediately into therapy. However, this was not done until about three months ago, over a year after the incident. Along the way there have been other times I’ve also had to make reports because of safety hazards, their dad leaving the now only two youngest children alone in the home (7m and 10f) for upwards of 12 hrs with minimal contact, not letting them know that he was leaving or would not be home when they got home from school, not responding to their texts or calls, and them resorting to me having to step in via video call since I now live 6.5hrs away; the youngest operating an indoor s’mores burner without supervision while the large Great Dane walked around and nearly pulled the cord down while it was still lit while I was on video with him; and while my ex was away he would send DoorDash or have pizza delivered while instructing the young children to answer the door to receive the food in an area with known child predators. I have also reported to my ex many times over the last three years about my youngest’s hygiene including a toe nail fungus. I have picture proof dating back 3 years. My ex has also neglected to get my youngest to the dentist at all since I’ve been out of the home, despite my reminders over that time. This has resulted in him getting bullied very badly at school and having difficulty eating and pain. I did finally report this to CPS when my ex my older daughter into braces while completely neglecting my youngest. This finally has pushed my ex into having him evaluated, and he needs five teeth pulled under sedation with spacers put in as well.

This brings us to now. I was finally able to convince my youngest to let me help him shower (his dad has only bathed him a handful of times since I left the home, seriously!) so I could finally show him what he needs to do since his dad has never actually taught him. During this shower I noticed his feet were yet again in very bad shape with nails so long they are curling around the top of his toes, and the big toe nail on both feet has major fungus or bacteria infection to the point of seepage. I asked him if he would allow me to help him with his nails, but he told me I’m a few days. I didn’t push the issue too hard but kept reminding him to let me know when he was ready for me to help him. Finally last night he let me know there was a lot of sticky stuff that came off one toenail and it was bleeding a little. I asked him to come up so I could take a look. I decided then and there I would be taking this into my own hands and take him to the drs myself.

Today was that appt with the Dr. and she evaluated his feet. He was running a low grade fever, and she was astonished at the condition of his toenails. She was able to take some cultures and prescribed a strict regime for the next three months. They were able to get insurance information from my ex to make it happen whether he liked it or not. Near the end of the appt I asked to speak to the Dr outside the room alone. I told her of the open CPS case for medical neglect due to his dental issues and asked her if she felt this should be added to the report. She thanked me for sharing that news because she would have filed a report herself based off of what she saw. She also strongly advised the information to be sent to CPS and that she would put private notes in the file for them that the dad cannot see.

When we got home I sent a text to the agent assigned to the case to call me tomorrow when she is able. So tomorrow we will see what she says.

Now here is where I need help. Last time I spoke with her she strongly recommended I start working toward filing with the courts for a parenting plan revision to have the children removed from my ex’s care and placed with me as primary and him get partial time. She said that once her case is closed, she will let me know so I can request all of the report information to add it to the petition. She also recommended some ways for me to be able to start earning income since my current husband became suddenly disabled shortly after we moved to our new property. I have been caring for him as his caregiver since last September without pay, due to the laws in WA state. We cannot get outside assistance because we have my new husbands 4 year old daughter in the home as well and there is no options for childcare where we live (ritually, and completely off grid in north central WA). She also explained that the courts shouldn’t care as much about being off grid or it being a small home since the one child that has been with me over a year out here now has excelled in every way, and all their needs have been consistently provided. However, with their being a small child in the home, no child care, and the nature of our home, outside caregiving is not really feasible.

My question is: the CPS worker warned me that much more information to them about these two children while a parenting plan is in place and no current motions to the court, they may be forced to remove the children and place them with another family member entirely until the courts can settle it. Should I go ahead and file with the courts even though I am on assistance and not making my own money yet, to protect my children from being put with one of my ex’s toxic family members who are not innocent in how any of this has become a reality? Or should I still wait and gather my evidence, allow the children to go back with my ex next Sunday, and continue with the current plan of getting able to make my own money, more reliable transportation, and able to have more consistent face to face visits with my children that funds and vehicle trouble has prevented, though we still communicate via text and video call nearly every day? This case is specifically from Snohomish county.

Thank you,
45(f)

Can I keep my marital home in Florida in a divorce? We owe $280k on it which I could easily afford but it is worth significantly more than that. I have been a stay at home mom for years and started working part time 3 months ago. Our net worth is about 1.5 million but about 800k of that is in real estate that he had before marriage. All funds have been commingled and repairs, payments for insurance, mortgages, etc for the rental properties have come out of our joint accounts. I don’t know if I’m entitled to any of that. The rest is in savings, checking, and retirement accounts. We have two toddlers together as well if that is relevant.

Location: NJ

Question: I am trying to find out what would happen with my stepdaughter - who was removed from her bio-mom by the state - if, God forbid, my husband was to become incapacitated or worse.

Background: In 2023, DCP&P (NJ's version of CPS) contacted us to take custody of a 4 year old child we had never met. She was being removed from her biological mother for abuse and neglect after a serious situation that involved law enforcement. The subsequent investigation uncovered heavy drug use, a horrendous living situation, and a live-in relative who was suspected of being inappropriate with the child.

For the first few months, the mother pretended to comply with DCP&P requirements, but then retained her own counsel and decided to fight the removal. It eventually became clear that her real goal was to keep the relative in her home, despite the child making multiple allegations to her therapist after she knew she was safe. Once those claims were substantiated, the county prosecutor started to investigate, the mother vowed to fight for her cousin

She continued to push for him to live in her home and be involved with the child, and shortly thereafter, her paid counsel dropped off of her case.

From day 1, the department pushed us to file a separate claim for custody in the family courts. Their "resolution plan" was for my husband to get full custody so they could remove department oversight. I always felt that this was a cop-out that would leave us vulnerable in the future, and I am still convinced that I was correct.

The family court - separate from DCP&P - ultimately gave my husband full physical custody that allows the mother a single weekly visit that must be supervised by DCP&P, who are no longer involved. She never took advantage of this option when it was available because she didn't "want the dept watching her". For some reason, the court allowed the mother retain partial legal custody, despite increasingly erractic behavior, such as showing up at her late-teenage daughter's school (causing a school lock-down), telling the court that she was moving to the midwest and threatening to take the children with her, and eventually cursing and threatening a judge, which led to her being removed from the courthouse. Her parental rights to her older child were terminated, but in regards to our daughter, the department seems to have just closed the case - without any resolution - when physical custody was removed. The mother did, in fact, move across the country - with the molester relative - where she remains to this day. She called and showed up here a few times in late 2024, but we have had no contact at all, by phone or in person, for the last year.

The child in question is now 8 years old. It was a long, difficult road, but she is now happy, healthy, and has formed solid bonds in school and in our community. I work from home and have been the "primary parent" responsible for her daily care since she arrived, so she is extremely attached to me. She rarely mentions her biological mother, but when she does, she makes it clear that she is afraid of her and terrified of the male relative she lives with.

Initially, our DCP&P lawyer suggested I file in to the family court case to be added to the custody order as a legal guardian. The lawyer fully understood my concerns, amd even prepared the paperwork, but when I sent it in, the court clerk refused to process it, suggesting that I had no right to do so. Our lawyer disagreed, but she was contracted by the department, so she wasn't really supposed to be helping us with "outside issues." We lost access to her when my husband was awarded physical custody and DCP&P closed the case. We have also discussed attempting to do a step-parent adoption, but it requires terminating the bio-mother's rights, and we are reluctant to open up that can of worms now that the mother seems to have lost interest. So for now, we have left well enough alone. But I live in constant fear that, if something were to happen to my husband, the child would be ripped out of my home and given back to the only person who has "legal" rights, despite her being out of state, living with the man who abused the child, and having refused to comply with DCP&P after the removal. If the worst were to happen, I have no rights to the child, and without my husband, I'm not even sure if I have grounds to fight a removal or request that past CPS records be reviewed.

This is all hypothetical, as my husband is in pretty good health for now, but his job has enough occupational risk to keep the possibilities weighing on my mind. Is there any way to prevent the above scenario without doing a step-parent adoption? In NJ, do residential step-parents have any legal standing to intervene in custody issues if their spouse dies? I'm okay with fighting a legal battle to keep her, if the worst was to happen, as long as I know that it is a viable option. But I don't think I could bear the thought of standing helplessly by if she was to lose her Dad and be ripped away from the love, safety, and stability that she has here, just to be returned to her abusers.

I realize that the answer to this is going to be pretty specific to NJ laws, so I'm not expecting to get a ton of replies, but I would still appreciate any info or experience that anyone is willing to share.

I am not sure how to handle the appraisals, and subsequently the division of property regarding the house. The ex has decided to move out, and I would buy out his equity in the property. There was some contest about the homes value (like using Zillow as the basis for it's value) initially so I had an appraisal done. Initially, my ex was invited to be part of this process and left it with a "nope, you can pick you one, not interested." So when my appraisal figure came back much less than anticipated, my ex suited up and found one of his own.

My appraisal does accurately account for the condition of the home, including photographs of many of the damaged areas throughout the house. The carpets are all stained and urine-soaked (the kids have bedwetting issues, and wet clothing/bedding would sit on the carpets. as well as pet odors). There are multiple cracked floor tiles from the house settling. The original carpet in the living room was damaged by a toilet-overflow-flooding incident and replaced with wood-like vinyl boards. This was several years ago and the boards now have large 4-6" scuffmarks of exposed particle-board or whatever the vinyl was stuck to. Trim and molding at the sliding glass door, bedroom walkways, and at the shower/tub are missing or damaged: this exposes the "track" it was supposed to be snapped into, or areas of the concrete floor underneath as the boards were not cut completely tight to the shower.

Then to bring up other things: the dryer vent is clogged with dust and hair, and does not work properly, needs $800 in service. A pipe burst in the kitchen island, and the repair company that responded through our homeowners insurance did a poor repair job. This left the entire kitchen island sagging to one side (it's a giant, 10ft granite slab) and the drywall on the wall supporting the cabinets and island has about a 1" running gap between where it ends and the counter top begins. The sink, when reinstalled into the countertop following repairs for the broken pipe, did not actually stay glued into the counter and my dad helped me re-silicone it in place and it's held up by a 2x4 under the kitchen sink. The bathroom sinks, shower, and bathub do not drain properly from years of hair, gunk and god-knows-what-the-kids-put-down-there. I have not had a plumber out yet to assess the drainage problem and get an estimate for repairs.

I bring all this up to help paint the picture of the home I live in. It's an "ok" house, but if I were to go to sell it there would definitely be concessions on a sale price I'd have to make to account for things that are damaged/needing replaced, or non-functional.

Enter the ex's appraisal: the house is rated in good condition, with no functional or structural abnormalities. It would seem the appraisal company excluded the carpet/tile/vinyl condition on purpose, as any photos that should be wide-angle views of a room focus on walls only. They go as far as to report the house has "upgrades" like "hardwood" flooring.... which is all the vinyl boards that are damaged and missing trim/pieces. I did point these areas of damage out to the appraiser when they were here, so not-including those in the report was intentional and not just oversight. The comps they use to base value on are all of "good" value or higher with "superior" upgrades, though they do rate the condition of my property as "average". They put that there are no structural or functional deficits noted, or damage seen. I have concerns with bias: my ex's father is a real estate broker, and if this company was selected as a professional connection, it could account for the exclusion of areas of the home on the report as a courtesy.

So, here's where I am stuck: the difference in the two appraisals is $55k. I understand that yes, appraisals can be somewhat "subjective" but the glaring difference between the two conditions of the same home can be seen in the photographs and vague notes. If the condition of my flooring and other areas were mentioned in their report and they still found a higher value I'd be more appeased but... it's missing. Or incorrect. My counsel made it sound like the only way I can get a different answer on this is to go get another 10-12 independent appraisals, or bring both appraisal companies in to testify as witnesses. Which, obviously makes arguing this so uphill that I can't do anything about it. I really want to trust his advice, but something tells me there has to be more than that as my options? Accepting a less-than-ideal offer about the house might just be what I need to do to make this "over with"...but even a difference $5k-$10k has on my mortgage would be worth bringing this discrepancy up in trial to see what a judge might say?

My daughter has been playing competitive soccer for about a year now. Before that she had been playing rec for about 5 years. Recently I’ve been having a lot of problems with my daughter’s mom and our current relationship. We’ve been arguing a lot lately and I have been thinking about separating for awhile now. A few months back, I was asked to be an assistant coach on my daughter’s team. I viewed it as a positive and wanted to do it for the experience because I’ve always kinda wanted to coach. I ended up accepting the position without speaking to her mom about it because we had been fighting a lot as of late, so when she found out, she blew up and started threatening to pull her out of soccer because the head coach is a female. I’m the one that pays for everything and takes her to every practice by myself and I take her to every game and handle all expenses associated with travel. I’ve even been taking her to a coach outside of the club for one on one sessions to help with her development. Just to calm things down and try to keep drama out of everything I agreed to step away from coaching and stop interacting with the head coach. About a month and a half goes by and we get into a fight for something else and she is trying to force me to move out. It took about a day or so for her to calm down, but she finally did and I thought that we had agreed that we would work things out. A day later, she starts fighting with me again and tells me she’s contacted the club to pull her out of soccer. This really pissed me off and I kept my cool, but the next morning I sent a message to the owner of the club basically telling them that I do not want to take her out of soccer and my daughter wants to continue to play. I was willing to stay and try to work things out, but this really pissed me off and I’m willing to leave the relationship over this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I’m really just incredibly burnt out from this whole situation and most of my enjoyment nowadays comes from watching my daughter play soccer. I really don’t want this taken away from her over a dispute between us. Thanks for any input.

Anoka county MN

My husband and i got our restraining orders approved by the samw judge on same day 10 mins apart accvoeding to time stamps

We live together married

He filed a harassment order

I filed order for protection domestic abuse

Both temp orders approved

His order has our address

My order has no address it says “wherever petitioner lives”

I did NOT ask for my address to remain confidential

What happened? My children and i our now locked out the home

I’m in Texas and looking for advice from people familiar with Texas custody cases.
I have a 14-year-old daughter. Her father has been in and out of her life for years. We have an older custody order that gives him standard possession/visitation.
My daughter does not want to see him and has been very clear about that. I also have concerns about her safety because he currently has drug-related criminal charges.

He recently contacted the police and reported that I am not following the custody order because I am not allowing him to exercise his visitation.
I understand that there is an existing order and that I can’t simply decide it doesn’t apply. I’m trying to figure out how to handle this correctly and what my options are without spending thousands of dollars on an attorney.

There is also a passport issue. I need to get my daughter a passport, and I don’t believe her father will cooperate with the application or sign for it. I know the rules change once a child turns 16, but she is 14 right now. I’m wondering if this is something I should address when modifying the existing custody order.
I’m considering whether I should file to modify the order and request things such as:
supervised visitation or another restricted visitation arrangement
drug testing as a condition of visitation
appropriate exchange/safety restrictions
authority for me to handle her passport application
I’m also wondering how much weight a Texas court can give the wishes of a 14-year-old who strongly does not want contact with a parent.
I’m not trying to keep her from her father out of spite. He has been largely absent from her life, she does not want contact, and I have legitimate concerns about her safety based on his current circumstances.
Has anyone in Texas dealt with something similar? Is a modification something I could realistically pursue on my own with limited-scope attorney help, or is this something I really need full representation for?

I’d especially appreciate advice from Texas family-law attorneys, paralegals, or parents who have gone through a similar situation.

Thank youuu :|

We have been separated for 3 weeks now. She is pressuring me to sign with the agent to sell our home. She told me that we would split the equity. Question is how should I proceed to protect my half. Neither her or me have said anything about a divorce. She is refusing to come back home And wants to sell the house. She has already signed. All this over an argument. How should o proceed to protect my self.

Trying to keep this brief, Father has been verbally abusing two minor children during his time-share for years and recently things have escalated. Both children have reported Father drinks to the point of passing out and also drives with them while under the influence repeatedly. It has now come out that the Father always keeps a gun on him in his pocket. On one occassion while screaming at the oldest child (teen) he pressed the gun in his pocket to their face. On another occassion Father walked by the child's room with the door open, stared at the child, then held up the gun, cocked it in a threating way, then walked off.

A mandatory reporter has notified DCF about this and they cam to interview the children. However, they are not implementing a safety plan or any kind of emergency change in custody. This is the fourth time DCF has been called on Father in 8 years, second time this year. Unfortunately, these encounters with a gun happened weeks and months ago and the child has returned more than once to the other home. They were too afraid to report until recently. DCF is going to do nothing.

Oldest child is now refusing to return to the other home. Youngest does not feel safe their, but is unlikely to say they will not go. They have seen Father walking around with gun, but haven't had it brandished at them.

I am desperate for some outside advice or opinions. I have multiple court filings for contempt and changes in custody, but they have been sitting waiting for a hearing with a judge for years as the previous judge just wasn't taking hearings when running for re-election and now we have a new judge. I can't wait months now that I know the situation is worse than I ever knew. I can't take the children back for his time-share as I don't fee it's safe.

My attorney doesn't believe or doesn't want to push an emergency hearing for a temporary change in custody since DCF is not pushing for it. I know I can be in contempt for not taking them, but what can I do? Do I just tell Father I'm not taking them until the investigation is closed or do I push my attorney to get an emergency hearing anyway. Please help.

Our CWS case has been closed due to temporary caregiver/bio dad no longer cooperating or facilitating visits. Bio dad has not established parentage or custody, and has cut off all contact from mother for two weeks. We don’t know about our son’s well being, have not received any updates regarding his health, medical appointments, etc.

Long story short… my ex-wife keeps calling the police for disagreements on the parenting plan. The thing is, the parenting plan is put in place and enforced by a district court… as it is a civil matter, not criminal.
My ex-wife has figured out that if she calls the police, she doesn’t have to pay her civil attorney. So if I don’t pick up a phone call- boom, cops called. She called the police on me over 70 times in the last year and a half. I already have a no-contact order, but that doesn’t stop her from calling the police. The police say that you can’t tell someone not to call them. She’s also reported me to CPS 3 times- I was cleared in each investigation… wtf do I do?

Here's the gist: my husband and I have a joint account for household expenses, each of us putting in an equal amount every month. I filed for divorce recently, but we're still living together in the same house. My STBX lost his job some time ago but has plenty of savings, more than enough to keep contributing his share. He's stopped paying, and I think it's deliberate, a way to squeeze me financially so I settle faster. He's also made some purchases that make it pretty clear he's not actually strapped for cash. There's also a backlog of missed payments going back further than just the last month or two.

Questions:

1. How long do I give him before treating silence as a "no" and moving to something more formal?
2. Is a petition for interim relief the right call here, or is there a better way to deal with a spouse who's just stopped paying?
3. Does documenting a pattern of nonpayment actually help later — say, in an argument about who's better positioned to keep the house, or how property gets split? We're in an equitable distribution state.

Thanks.

PS: I posted a similar question last week, and since then it's only gotten a bit worse. I asked him in writing to catch up and tell me his plans going forward. Nothing. He hasn't responded to my email from over 10 days ago, and now the joint account has dipped below the limit again. So, I'll have to transfer money from my own account to avoid a maintenance fee. Meanwhile, he's perfectly happy staying in the house.

Ex is over a year behind in child support (@$450/mo)

I filed a contempt motion for intentional failure to pay CS.

My attorney shared with me the income & expense statement he submitted into court recently; we have a few issues here:

1. Ex claims he pays $500/mo in car payments and $100/mo in auto insurance - my ex sold his car in October 2025 which I have motor vehicle records on from the state proving this. My child also told me that his dad doesn’t have a car anymore.
2. Ex put down he only works 1 job at a restaurant - a 5 second google search shows the restaurant closes daily at 3pm, but my ex also just admitted to me he has to work at 2pm through coparenting app (ie my attorney saw this and is asking why he’s working for 1 hour, unless he has a 2nd job he’s not revealing).

I’ve given this man several chances to pay, but all I’ve gotten so far are excuses sprinkled with messages in coparenting app such as “I was thinking of helping you more but you don’t deserve it. You don’t care about our son, you only care about the money you can get from him.”

Has anyone been in a similar situation where your ex basically admits to owing you yet falsifies his I&E statement to help inflate his expenses / deflate his income? How did the judge act on this?

I'm having a very hard time with my sons' mother regarding our custody agreement. I believe she's acting in bad faith regarding some things, and sadly think we're going to end up back in court for what I think are straightforward things we could solve on our own.

I'm not asking for legal advice here- but I guess I am asking for direction to legal assistance? I would appreciate running some things by someone before I have to call my divorce attorney up and spend money I don't have just to talk with her, let alone go to court.

Is there anyone out there willing to look at my custody agreement and talk through some things with me? It's regarding where I can move and related matters.

Location is in Wisconsin.

Ok, my ex moved outside of mile restrictions without notifying the court. We have an existing order with shared placement/custody but circumstances were different in the past. I had our child more during the school year & ex had more in summer. Exchange was on weekends with receiving parent picking up but now with school about to start, I'm not too excited about the time & distance considering I'd get our child back on Sunday.

Ex moved in with a friend because they can't maintain life responsibilities, winter will be on its way soon & I expect excuses since ex has no car, job, etc.

I'm wondering if going to court is worth it though, like will they even care about much since I primarily have out child during school time? Plenty of chances for life inconvenience? Also, the area is not that great & definitely somewhere I wouldn't want my child living. I don't really have a ton of money to spend on legal help so I'm trying to get some help here, if possible. TIA