Father's Visitation with child

[texteca]

My son's divorce was final in May.  He could not afford an attorney and his ex-wife got custody of his child because he did not know he had to fill out a paper to file for joint custody.

He recently started a job where he has to work from 9:30 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. (Sunday nights through Friday mornings).  Now his ex is denying him visitation for the whole weekend and is demanding their 2 year old be brought back to her by 8 p.m. on Friday evenings.

She keeps telling him that because she got custody, she can say when and if he can get his child.

His ex drinks, smokes dope, has no job, no car any longer, and is living with someone (something she has been doing since before they were divorced).  This is a terrible environment for his child.

We live in Ohio.  Can anyone give us some advice?  Is he allowed to keep his child for the entire weekend when it's supposed to be "his" weekend but his ex demands her back the same day he picks her up?  Will he get arrested if he keeps her on "his" weekend?

Please help.

[mistoffolees]

If the divorce decree assigns custody, it should say something about visitation. She can not interfere with whatever visitation is granted in the decree. If she refuses to allow court-ordered visitation, she's in contempt of court.

If there's no mention of visitation, he needs to file a parenting plan with the court requesting visitation. However, if there's no mention of visitation, the whole thing may be suspect and he should talk with an attorney about getting it fixed.

Until then, he has to go by what the decree says. If it simply says that she has sole custody and doesn't mention visitation, then he's probably not going to get visitation until he can get the order changed.