Summer vacation

[jcsct5]

Mother sent and email back in March stating that she will take her summer vacation with our girls from 7/15 to 7/29 or from 7/17 to 7/31. I was in the process of planning my summer vacation for the same time.

I responded that two range of dates wasn't a valid notice of her vacation dates. I explained that I was scheduling my vacation around that time. I gave her 24 hours to give me exact dates or I would assume this wasn't a valid request and would request my dates that I wanted.

She responded within 24 hours that she intended to take the girls from the 17th at 3 pm to the 30th at 3pm. She specified that she was returning the girls to me on Sunday the 30th at 3pm during my regular custody time and then they would return to her on Monday the 31st at 3 for her regularly scheduled custody time.

Our court order requires that the other parent have a 24 hour period with the children immediatly before and after a vacation. The children then have to come to me after her vacation for 24 hours, and then with her for 24 hours prior to me starting my vacation.

I schelduled my vacation to begin on August 1st at 3 pm, allowing us both the court ordered 24 hour notice.

Mother now claims that she mearly made a typo in her vacation days (she is entitiled to 14 days and only scheduled 13) and intended to not end her vacation until the 31st at 3 pm, and I should have realized her mistake since her original email had the 17th - 31st as one of her options.

Despite my having already made plans with the children and expending cost on those plans I suggested that if she wanted to keep the girls until the 31st we could trade it as her 24 hours before my vacation and I would take her 24 hours from Monday to Tuesday.

She informs me that it is part of her vacation and I am the one with the problem because I didn't schedule my vacation 48 hours after what she intended her vacation to be. She says she now intends to keep the girls for the 14 days instead of her requested dates, and suggests that she keep them longer until Tuesday morning as her "24 hour period".

Original orders stated that vacation must be requested 30 days in advance, the most recent order does not specify any time restraints on notification but we have always given at least 30 days.

She has a history of doing this kind of stuff and in fact decided at the last minute last year that she made a mistake on her vacation dates and needed to change them. Every other year she decides that the court "should" have given her every other new years holiday with the girls and she refuses to return the girls to me at the specified time.

1) Given that the most recent court order doesn't specify that she must give 30 days notice am I screwed?

Any suggestions you might have would be appreciated. I am in Placer county and judges here don't take kindly to parents filing contempt, so I don't feel that is an option.

[socrateaser]

>1) Given that the most recent court order doesn't specify that
>she must give 30 days notice am I screwed?
>
>Any suggestions you might have would be appreciated. I am in
>Placer county and judges here don't take kindly to parents
>filing contempt, so I don't feel that is an option.

If you can prove with credible evidence that you did everything required under the order such that you are entitled to the time, and that you will be financially injured in some definite and certain amount as a consequence of the other parent's refusal to follow the court orders, then you can file an ex parte motion for a restraining order, specifically ordering the other parent to not interfere with your court ordered custody on the date(s) in dispute, on grounds that you will suffer irreparable harm (lost time with kids and money) if your request isn't granted.

Doing this would permit the court to instruct the other parent as to what is expected, and failure to abide by the express order would be a contempt that the court would not brush aside.

However, it still comes down to your ability to put together a compelling declaration with supporting documentary evidence. I can't assess your ability to do this, but if you can do it, then you have a case.

Otherwise, as you say, you're "screwed."