HELP!!

[DN5674]

My problem is that my Son amd his wife are in the middle of divorce proceedings and she took both of their minor children out-of-state even against her own attorney's advice. She is not returning my Son's phone calls, e-mails or text messages, except for when she wants to know about child support, of which he has been faithfully paying each week. My Son's lawyer doesn't seem to be doing anything to rectify the situation for him. He told my Son 2 days ago that an "emergency custody order" could be filed and now today he says it can't. My Son has not seen his kids in over 6 weeks and is grieving tremendously. His Daughter is age 2 and his Son is 11 months. His wife was the one who set up the visitation schedule and then left the state. At this time she has no intent of returning to Indiana from Arizona. Any information you can give us on how he can get his visitation rights is greatly appreciated. Before she left the state, his wife and him signed a preliminary agreement which stated he could have his children every other weekend and one evening per week. He has already been on one deployment to Iraq and is scheduled to go back so spending quality time with his children is his number one priority. Thanks for any help you can give us. Sincerely, Donna

[Kent]

You can always file for an emergency hearing. Whether it is doing you any good is a different story.

Why does his attorney refuse to file for an emergency hearing?
Is there already a pending case? If so, what does it say about moving the children?

Kent!

[mistoffolees]

I can't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to file for an emergency hearing. What reason did the attorney give?

Unless he can give a good reason for delay, I would pressure the attorney to file now rather than waiting to see what happens.

However, before doing ANYTHING, make sure that your son is clear on what he wants. Since he's going to be leaving the country, perhaps he's decided that the best he can hope for is infrequent, long distance visitation and he has no plans at all to consider filing for custody. If that's the case, then there probably isn't grounds for an emergency hearing.

Bottom line, first decide what he is hoping to achieve, then work with the attorney to make it happen. But don't be afraid to ask the attorney for explanations when he says something that you don't like.