Judge drops supervised visits & makes it 50/50 timesharing

[momluvz2]

I have 2 kids under 2 years old who since father abandoned the home have had supervised visitation 1x a weekly for 2hrs. I went in yesterday to a hearing for temporary child support since dad hasn't paid a dime for about a year and judge decides out of the blue to drop supervised visits and grant him 50/50. There is a perminant domestic violence injunction in place, father has a lengthy criminal record, lives 1.5 hrs away and his license is once again suspended for reckless driving. I feel battered and abused by this system and with nowhere to turn. Please advice!  - Florida

[Waylon]

If the judge has ordered it, you must comply with the order. If you feel that it's unfair or places the children in danger then you can appeal the order.

FYI, it's normal for supervised visitation orders to be scaled back after time if the need for supervision decreases (generally as reported by the supervising agency).

Note that failure to pay support is not a reason to continue supervised visitation, nor are previous criminal records (in most cases). Distance is also not usually a factor for supervised visitation, although a license suspension may call into question his ability to transport the children in a legal manner. Feeling "battered" by the system is not a reason the court will consider as valid cause. We all feel battered by the system, unfortunately.

What is your primary reason for wanting the supervised visits to continue?

I have 2 kids under 2 years old who since father abandoned the home have had supervised visitation 1x a weekly for 2hrs. I went in yesterday to a hearing for temporary child support since dad hasn't paid a dime for about a year and judge decides out of the blue to drop supervised visits and grant him 50/50. There is a perminant domestic violence injunction in place, father has a lengthy criminal record, lives 1.5 hrs away and his license is once again suspended for reckless driving. I feel battered and abused by this system and with nowhere to turn. Please advice!  - Florida

[tigger]

It does seem wrong to go from 2 hrs a week (supervised or not) to suddenly 50/50. In my state CS and Visitation/Custody are handled by different courts/judges so the CS judge would not have been able to change custody to 50/50. 

Will he be able to maintain 50/50 custody?  If not, I think you can appeal it. 

[momluvz2]

My main concern is my child's safety. Since there is a domestic violence injunction in place I don't have any idea where my child is all weekend nor do I have any way to communicate with him or care giver (father). Also, I find it unreasonable for a judge not to slowly transition a 20 month old child from 2hr visits 1x a week to a 3 day weekend with a father who's practically a stranger. He's missed 8 supervised visits including all Holidays. My son has already had his first weekend with him and came back completely unrecognizable. Extremely independent, quiet, constantly whining, throwing tantrums, and extra attached to me. I know its always a difficult transition but Ireally wish we could have slowly worked our way up to 3 days and 2 sleepovers.