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Dear Soc--

In a previous post you advised: "I know this, for sure -- I would empty every bank and brokerage account into cash immediately, because opposing counsel will try to freeze your accounts, so as to deprive you of money, and force you to settle -- all in the child's best interests, of course"

1)  Under what conditions can the courts freeze your bank accounts?

2)  Can opposing counsel freeze them just to make your life miserable?

Thank you very much for your advice.

I had a feeling the Birth Mother's Lawyer would do something after the Court Psychologists conclusion.

One of the ways we were told to to win a case, is to exhaust the other's finances.  Now we have to pay our lawyer to create a supplementary breif.  

So much for the kid's college education fund.  (kidding...or am i?)

BACKGROUND--

AZ divorce, Dad in AZ, Mom in TX

We have been in court a year trying to get stepkids out of an abusive situation (BM's preferance for abusive boyfriends). Judge #1 denied temporary custody orders, has been lied to by BM and he yelled at her and fined her for it.  Stepkids were interviewed by Court Psychologist and conclusion was that DH should get 2 youngest kids as oldest is 17, violent, and admitted he hates me but doesn't know why.

PROBLEM

Now, Judge #1 has transferred case to Judge #2 for a final decision.

1)  Is this a common pratice?

2)  Under what conditions would a judge be willing to do this?

3)  Could this cause the case to start completely over again?

4)  What else should I be concerned about regarding switching judges?

"Your facts state that the mother has had 50 domestic violence police reports in the past 3 years. The facts don't say what the outcome of any of these reports were"

Boyfriend(s) had restraining orders filed against them and removed boyfriend(s)from the home.  The 50 police reports are between 3 boyfriends and a 2nd ex-husband.

"or how the children have been affected by the behavior of the mother regarding these reports"

According to the children, this is normal family-oriented behavior.  One police report shows child abuse, but the child who was abused said in court that the police report is lying.

"nor do the facts state how many, if any, of the reports were made prior to the last custody order."

The reports started 1 year after the divorce was finalized.  Prior to the last and only custody order, there were no police reports of any kind.

So you are saying that even if you don't have physical cusotdy, you can still request final say?

I read the Supreme Court Ruling on NEWDOW and the CA divorce said they had joint legal custody, but she had final say.  http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=02-1624
I hope I have interperted it wrong.

Dear Socrateaser---

My fiance is currently going to court to try and get sole custody of his children.  Divorce and father are in Arizona, birth mother lives in Texas with children.

The birth mother has over 50 police reports for domestic violence and child abuse in 3 years.  All different boyfriends doing the abuse, restraining orders on boyfriend(s) when the relationship ends.  It seems to be a pattern with her.  CPS refuses to get involved because the threat (boyfriend) is gone by the time they get there.

The children have PAS and have been coached to lie during thier interviews.  We think the birth mom has told them she will kill herself if she loses the kids, but we can't prove it.

They have joint legal custody, she has primary physical custody.  If the parties cannot agree, she has final say.  In light of the recent ELK GROVE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT et al. v. NEWDOW et al. decision:

(1)  If the court decides that she retains physical custody, what are the possibilities that he can get final say?

My first thought is take a trip to Mexico and divorce the 2nd wife.  I don't think you need her permission to do it there.  Then marry the 3rd while you are there, that should handle all the 1st wife's objections.

My second thought is report the 2nd wife for polygamy.

My third thought is the first wife, who has custody of the daughter, should never be trusted because she intentionally gave advice to use against you.  She keeps her friend close, but her enemies closer.

And finally, check the laws in your state and your parenting agreement.  It should be specifically outlined if the living arrangements can be used to refuse court ordered visitation.

Good luck!

Background information:  Birth Mom has primary custody in Texas, Birth Father is in Arizona.  Currently taking her to court in Arizona (for over a year now) for child custody because of 50 police reports on domestic violence and child abuse in 3 years.  Court is currently set up to interview the 3 children sometime this summer.

Problem:  Oldest child (will be 17 in July) broke his leg and doesn't want to come to summer visitation.  Middle son also refuses to visit the court ordered 6 weeks as he wants to blow off illegal fireworks for the 4th of July.  Birth Mom refuses to send sons because they don't want to go, and refuses to send the 8 year old daughter because she doesn't want to separate the sibilings.

Possible Soultions:  (1)  The Pro-Active Solution.  Since the lawyer already filed documentation with Birth Mom and her lawyer on visitation, Birth Father has right to take children on the set date of the documentation.  Birth Father can fly down to Texas, hope to find his children, and bring them back to Arizona for court ordered visitation.  Birth Father is worried that his children will be hostile if he takes this action and feels that he will have no backing of law enforcement in Texas, even though he has documentation of the court order.

(2)  The Passive Solution.  Birth Father waits until court ordered visitation day is past, then files contempt on Birth Mother.  Birth Father doesn't get to see his children and his children will be hostile because he filed against their mother.

Birth Father pays full child support, plus any extras the children require.  Birth Mom has been deemed by court professional as praticing Parential Annialiation Syndrome (sp?).

What would you do?

Socrateaser has already posted about this.

"The U.S. Supreme Court made bad law concerning the rights of noncustodial parents to sue on behalf of their children and, even worse, abdicated its fundamental role in the U.S. system of government."

http://www.democratherald.com/articles/2004/06/16/news/opinion/edit04.txt

I orginally posted this on a step-parenting board full of women, and the results were shocking.  The women are totally for it!!!!!  Most of these women are in 2nd marriages and don't seem to care that their current husbands will have not rights with their biological children.

I am really afraid how far some people will take this.  Does this mean if my non-custodial daughter is getting raped by her step dad, that the non-custodial parent can't do anything about it?  What about public schools denying the rights of biological children with IEP's?  Does the non-custodial parent have no right to complain?  And how will this affect medical decisions?  If the non-custodial parent pays for the medical insurance, does this mean the non-custodial parent has no say in the care yet still needs to pay for everything?

How far do you think someone will take this?