(Names and specific dates have been changed to protect client confidentiality. The factual situation is real - too real.)
Around two years ago,Matthew (a carpenter) returned from work to an empty house. Seems that without any notice or warning, his wife decided to abduct the kids and flee to her family's "enclave" in backwoods Virginia. Once there, she filed for (and received) an ex-parte restraining Order and trespass warrant to keep him off the property - despite the fact that he had no clue as to her whereabouts. In response to his telephone calls trying to locate her, her parents denied that she was there. A month or so later, one of the relatives called him and revealed that she and the children were indeed living with her folks. From that point on, his telephone calls were invariably answered by machine. Within a week after that, she tried to invoke a Virginia court's emergency jurisdiction to provide her with sole custody by alleging that her husband had "abandoned" the family. Matthew took time off work to make the 12-hour drive to the Virginia hearing, where that judge dismissed the wife's pleadings, and explained in no uncertain terms that Dad had an equal right to the love and companionship of his children - but any custody decision would have to come from Florida.
Robert wanted desperately to exercise that right, and was told that if he came to the grandparents' home, he would be permitted to do so. Upon arriving, he was arrested - with the kids looking on in horror - for violating the trespass warrant. He posted bond and returned to the home in Oldsmar, where he hired a lawyer, filed for divorce, and for custody of the children.
That's when it really started getting ugly...
It isn't uncommon for these cases to go on for years. This one has only lasted for two - so far. Despite the local court's concerns about the "kidnapping", about the wife and grandparents' alcohol and drug abuse, about their "inappropriate" sexual behaviors in the presence of the children, and the complete absence of any such allegations aboutMatthew, the court decided that her family provided a "safety net" thatMatthew didn't have. It decided to let the children remain with mom and the family in Virginia, and thatMatthew could "visit" with them during the summer, at Christmas, and during Spring break.
The Court appointed a psychologist to do a "home-study" - the $145.00 per hour costs to be shared betweenMatthew and his wife 75%/25%, respectively. She gaveMatthew a test and talked to him for a half-hour. Matthew got to "visit" with his children for a few days last Spring, and at that time the "expert" got to "evaluate" them. She did no testing, and talked with them for forty-five minutes or so. More court action was necessary to force the wife to attend. She took a test and chatted with the psychologist for a half-hour.
The report on the "home-study" was filed in October. There was no attempt to contact anyone other than the parties and the children, no visits outside the psychologists office, no documentary information other than the temporary custody/visitation/support Order. She ignored the death-threatsMatthew has been getting by mail from the wife's friends - photographs of himself with cross-hairs drawn across his face, and inscribed with the words, "you will die" (Others he's received, along with phone calls, have been even more direct - one with actual bullet holes through the picture). Madame Expert didn't think it was important that other "friends of the family" followedMatthew's sister to Florida when she brought the children down to visit last Spring; nor that it had any impact when they terrorized the children andMatthew at his home on Easter Sunday, before fleeing back across the Florida border. She didn't seem to mind that "grandmaw" once attackedMatthew with a butcher knife while the children looked on, screaming. Or the pictures of "grandpaw" sitting in the bubble-bath with 7-year-old granddaughter naked on his lap. Nothing wrong with that, right? The "expert" recommended that the "status quo" be maintained until trial - expected to happen some six months down the road.
That's when he hired me.
I recommended filing a complaint with the Department of Professional Regulation, and motions to disqualify the psychologist and for temporary Custody, we but couldn't get a hearing date until mid-December. At that time, the Judge reserved ruling to deal with those matters at trial. The D.P.R. is still sitting on its collective thumbs.
Matthew got to play "visitor" for another few days at Christmas, and took the kids to see another psychologist - known for being a child-advocate, with an impeccable and unchallenged reputation. This professional said there appeared to be some very significant problems, but needed more time and testing (and money) to document his impressions. Matthew requested the Court's "expert" to let our psychologist review her test results, to help keep the costs down. She refused, and only two subpoenas (ignored) and finally a motion for contempt caused her to reveal the real extent of her $2,000.00 evaluation: She had done essentially nothing - produced so little information thatMatthew's psychologist had to start from "square one". Matthew took on a second job to earn the necessary fees.
Throughout all this time his letters to the children went unanswered - they say they've never received them. His children sent valentines to his neighbor's children in the stamped envelopes he left with his wife - but he didn't get one. His telephone calls to the kids were still answered by machine. All attempts to gain some cooperation from the wife's lawyer have failed. Judge doesn't have time on his calendar for our motion to enforce until sometime in late March. At that hearing, Judge orders mom to answer the phone - nothing more.
Fast forward to April - Spring break. The usual letters begging for visitation are sent; phone calls back and forth between attorneys; her attorney responds saying that due to "snow days", there won't be any vacation this Spring, thus no visitation. Call the school: Principal says, yup, that's right, but since the kids are only kindergarten and third grade, it won't destroy their academic careers to miss a few days in order to visit with their Dad. Call the wife's attorney - she has a real problem with kids missing school. No compromise possible.
File and set an emergency motion for visitation, wife and her attorney to appear by telephone conference call. Hit the courtroom running and make the pitch - Dad hasn't seen the kids since a few days at Christmas, has already arranged the time off work to be with them, school says that's O.K., can't visit in Virginia because of the trespass warrants, restraining orders, and death threats...the parties have agreed to meet half-way, in, Columbia, S.C., and...
"Motion denied, counsel. I'm not going to have those children spending twenty-four hours in a car for only a week's visitation. Can't they be flown?"
Sure, Judge, except for the minor problem of getting any airline seats during Spring break, let alone for two little kids non-stop from Washington D.C. (closest major airport) to Tampa - and presuming either Dad ($8.00 per hour) or Mom (unemployed) can come up with over $800.00 per seat.
"Well, if he wants to see the children, I guess he'll just have to come up with the money. Unless you can come up with a solution, there won't be any visitation. They're not going to be forced to ride in a car for all that time. When you get it figured out, set another hearing. By the way, I'll be on vacation for the next couple of weeks. Thank you, counsel. We're done." Neither wife nor her lawyer have said a word, except "Thank you, your honor."
We expect to go to trial in June - two days of judicial battery and bludgeoning in which to resolve the trauma and heartache of two and one-half years. We're betting on winning - any takers?
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