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I realize Soc is gone but I figured I'd post here because its sort of a legal question.

My fiance and I live in MA.

My fiance fell behind in child support and was found in contempt, so the judge ordered him to pay the full amount and to do 90 days of community service.

My fiance found out that he is the only one in the community service program that is not getting "compensated" for his work (all the others are working for an hourly wage and that money goes to pay for their fine or their arrears in child support.)

It sounds like slave labor. Is this legal and is there anything he can do about it? Can he appeal or something?

Thanks.

Good Afternoon Soc,

I live in MA, ex and child now live in NH.

My ex has legal and physical custody. I have supervised visitation, which I cannot afford to exercise at this time.

I call my child frequently to maintain our relationship. In the few months following my ex's move, I have noticed a change in our child's personality.

I have listened to some previous phone recordings I made of my child and I and the difference in her character is astounding. I feel there may be some serious issues here.

Before the move, our child was a vibrant chatterbox. Now, my child is sullen, barely speaks and gives short answers. She also claims she has no friends.

Part of the problem with my child is my ex monitors the calls. She stays by our child the whole time, I have heard her tell our child what to say and what not to say, and my ex has even gone so far as to listen in on the other line.

 

Questions:

1. Should I consider asking the court for an order to allow my child speak to me on the phone alone, without being monitored?

2. Since I don't have legal custody and I live 2hrs away, what can I do to find out if my child is having problems?



Thank you.

I live in MA, my ex and my child live in NH.


A year ago my ex made allegations, against me, of substance abuse. Because of my prescription I failed a drug screen and I've been ordered to undergo a substance abuse evaluation.

I am not a "junkie" and my prescription did not (and does not) interfere with my abilities.

I managed to complete half of my evaluation before my evaluator informed me he was too busy to schedule any more appointments for me and that my evaluation would not be ready for trial. I didn't have the money to start over with a new evaluator.  

Trial came and went. I still need to complete an evaluation and cannot have unsupervised visits until I do so.

Recently I lost my health insurance (and my prescription) so I enrolled in a program that will help me manage my pain, as well as my medication. With this program my pain management and medication are evaluated on a weekly basis and I am also subjected to monthly drug screens.  

In other words, being on this program does not allow me to be a "junkie" or a danger to my child. As I said before, I am closely and constantly evaluated all the time to make sure my pain and medication does not interfere with my abilities.

I would like to ask the court to accept my participation in this program in place of the evaluation or atleast to consider unsupervised visitation while I continue with the program.

Questions:

1. Is the above request feasible and, if it is, how do I go about asking the court for this request?

2. If the above is not allowable, do you think my participation in this program will hurt my court case in anyway?

Thank you

I think SPARC is awesome but I feel it's geared more for informational purposes. I didn't want to clutter up the forums with drama.

I used to go on another site for step-mom's but one day it just disappeared. I kinda went through withdrawls =)

Thanks for the links!

I'm looking for a website just for step-moms where I can talk and vent without being judged or "scolded" for how I feel.

Any suggestions?

HI!

DH lost custody at trial because he couldnt prove he wasn't on drugs. In MA, if a parent has a substance abuse problem for any length of time, then they lose custody. In our situation, DH had a prescription, failed a drug test because of it and becuase the courts think they always know what's best, they ordered him to undergo a substance abuse eval. just to be sure he wasn't "dangerous." We couldnt afford the evaluation though so I guess they thinks he's unfit (???) even though there's no evidence f him EVER hurting or neglecting his child. (!!??!!)

He would like to have legal custody again......