New circumstance since mediation - court date June 23 - please help

[rebecca]

Dear Socrateaser:
I currently have joint custody of my 6 year old Son in California.  The current schedule is Dad - Mon, Tues, every other weekend  Me - Wed, Thurs every other weekend.  He currently picks Son up from school even on my parenting days and I pick Son up from Dad after work.  This was not a problem for Dad until late March.  
I recently filed an order to show cause after learning Son's Dad enrolled him at a new school in a new city (but, same county).  We had a mediation session in which Dad explained that the driving distance from his new home to Son's current school was too far for Son and him to drive.  He owns his own business and has a flexible work schedule so he wants full custody of Son to give him stability after school and because he claims I have anger issues, I am usually mean to Son but I am nice now since this has been going on, and I lie.  
At the time of the mediation session I said I wanted Son to go to daycare until I get off work to alleviate the driving situation.  I said I wanted to change our parenting schedule to a week on/week off so that I would be able to pay for the daycare on the weeks Son was with me as opposed to paying for full months which I can not afford.  
Since the mediation session, I was able to get my work schedule reduced to a 32 hour week so that I will be able to pick Son up from school on my parenting days.   Now, I want to keep the schedule as is to make this reduced schedule work.  Mainly, I still want Son to stay at his current school.  He changed schools last year and it was a long and tough adjustment for him.  
Also, the driving for Son will not be alleviated, it will just be me doing the driving instead of Dad with the school change, unless he gets his wish of full custody.  
We were told that the session in front of the Judge will only be 5 minutes.  What is the best way to present this new circumstance and my new request to keep our schedule the same after I requested initially that it change?  
Dad already told me and the mediator that he is going to request a child custody evaluation for full custody.  This is supposed to take 60 days.  The new school is on a different schedule and starts in less than 60 days.  Will Dad be able to send him to the new school in the mean time?
I haven't received the mediation report yet.
Thanks for your advice.

[socrateaser]

 .

[rebecca]

I currently have joint custody of my 6 year old Son in California. The current schedule is Dad - Mon, Tues, every other weekend Me - Wed, Thurs every other weekend. He currently picks Son up from school even on my parenting days and I pick Son up from Dad after work. This was not a problem for Dad until late March.

I recently filed an order to show cause after learning Son's Dad enrolled him at a new school in a new city (but, same county). We had a mediation session in which Dad explained that the driving distance from his new home to Son's current school was too far for Son and him to drive. He owns his own business and has a flexible work schedule so he wants full custody of Son to give him stability after school and because he claims I have anger issues, I am usually mean to Son but I am nice now since this has been going on, and I lie.

At the time of the mediation session I said I wanted Son to go to daycare until I get off work to alleviate the driving situation. I said I wanted to change our parenting schedule to a week on/week off so that I would be able to pay for the daycare on the weeks Son was with me as opposed to paying for full months which I can not afford.

Since the mediation session, I was able to get my work schedule reduced to a 32 hour week so that I will be able to pick Son up from school on my parenting days. Now, I want to keep the schedule as is to make this reduced schedule work. Mainly, I still want Son to stay at his current school. He changed schools last year and it was a long and tough adjustment for him.

Also, the driving for Son will not be alleviated, it will just be me doing the driving instead of Dad with the school change, unless he gets his wish of full custody.  Dad already told me and the mediator that he is going to request a child custody evaluation for full custody, this is supposed to take 60 days.  

I haven't received the mediation report yet.

We were told that the session in front of the Judge will only be 5 minutes. What is the best way to present this new circumstance and my new request to keep our schedule the same after I requested initially that it change?

The new school is on a different schedule and starts in less than 60 days. Will Dad be able to send him to the new school in the mean time?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[socrateaser]

Questions for you:

1. Was your original custody order stipulated?

2. Is there anything specified in your custody order regarding relocating the child or enrolling him in a different school?

3. Is one of you designated "primary custodian" or the like, or is this an completely equal split?

4.  Differentiate between the market theories of "fundamental value" and "liquidity." (just kidding!) ;->

[rebecca]

Unfortunately, our custody arrangement does not include anything regarding school, or changing schools.  Son was a toddler when we divorced and I didn't think that far ahead.

The agreement does say that we have to give the other parent 6 months notice if we move outside of the county.  Son's father did not move outside of the county, he just moved to another city within the same county.

We each have joint legal/physical custody with no one designated as a primary custodian.  Our time with Son is split down the middle to the minute.  Except for the right of first refusal where Son's father picked him up from school all of this school year.

Thank you.

[socrateaser]

May it please the court, your honor, on ??/??/??, Mr. X, unilaterally, and without prior notice, enrolled our son, Y, in a different school, after Mr. X relocated, also without prior notice, to the city of Z.

Although our current custody orders and parenting plans, do not expressly cover either of these circumstances, I believe that Mr. X's actions violate the general principle of joint custody, as well as the equal parenting arrangement expressed in our parenting plan, which requires the close cooperation of both parents, especially with regard to making major decisions concerning our child's education.

I ask that the court order that the status quo be maintained, and our son ordered enrolled at Z_SCHOOL, which is the school that he has been attending up until now, unless Mr. X can show that this new school  provides some substantial benefit over Y's current school.

Finally, I believe it important to mention, that by moving the child, Mr. X creates a significant increase in the amount of transportation that I will be responsible for, and if the court finds that this change of school is in the child's best interests, that Mr. X should be ordered to compensate me for the reasonable cost of this additional transportation, as he is the person who relocated.

Thank you.

[rebecca]

Thank you so much!  

[rebecca]

Dear Socrateaser:
I currently have joint custody of my 6 year old Son in California.  The current schedule is Dad - Mon, Tues, every other weekend  Me - Wed, Thurs every other weekend.  He currently picks Son up from school even on my parenting days and I pick Son up from Dad after work.  This was not a problem for Dad until late March.  
I recently filed an order to show cause after learning Son's Dad enrolled him at a new school in a new city (but, same county).  We had a mediation session in which Dad explained that the driving distance from his new home to Son's current school was too far for Son and him to drive.  He owns his own business and has a flexible work schedule so he wants full custody of Son to give him stability after school and because he claims I have anger issues, I am usually mean to Son but I am nice now since this has been going on, and I lie.  
At the time of the mediation session I said I wanted Son to go to daycare until I get off work to alleviate the driving situation.  I said I wanted to change our parenting schedule to a week on/week off so that I would be able to pay for the daycare on the weeks Son was with me as opposed to paying for full months which I can not afford.  
Since the mediation session, I was able to get my work schedule reduced to a 32 hour week so that I will be able to pick Son up from school on my parenting days.   Now, I want to keep the schedule as is to make this reduced schedule work.  Mainly, I still want Son to stay at his current school.  He changed schools last year and it was a long and tough adjustment for him.  
Also, the driving for Son will not be alleviated, it will just be me doing the driving instead of Dad with the school change, unless he gets his wish of full custody.  
We were told that the session in front of the Judge will only be 5 minutes.  What is the best way to present this new circumstance and my new request to keep our schedule the same after I requested initially that it change?  
Dad already told me and the mediator that he is going to request a child custody evaluation for full custody.  This is supposed to take 60 days.  The new school is on a different schedule and starts in less than 60 days.  Will Dad be able to send him to the new school in the mean time?
I haven't received the mediation report yet.
Thanks for your advice.

[socrateaser]

 .

[rebecca]

I currently have joint custody of my 6 year old Son in California. The current schedule is Dad - Mon, Tues, every other weekend Me - Wed, Thurs every other weekend. He currently picks Son up from school even on my parenting days and I pick Son up from Dad after work. This was not a problem for Dad until late March.

I recently filed an order to show cause after learning Son's Dad enrolled him at a new school in a new city (but, same county). We had a mediation session in which Dad explained that the driving distance from his new home to Son's current school was too far for Son and him to drive. He owns his own business and has a flexible work schedule so he wants full custody of Son to give him stability after school and because he claims I have anger issues, I am usually mean to Son but I am nice now since this has been going on, and I lie.

At the time of the mediation session I said I wanted Son to go to daycare until I get off work to alleviate the driving situation. I said I wanted to change our parenting schedule to a week on/week off so that I would be able to pay for the daycare on the weeks Son was with me as opposed to paying for full months which I can not afford.

Since the mediation session, I was able to get my work schedule reduced to a 32 hour week so that I will be able to pick Son up from school on my parenting days. Now, I want to keep the schedule as is to make this reduced schedule work. Mainly, I still want Son to stay at his current school. He changed schools last year and it was a long and tough adjustment for him.

Also, the driving for Son will not be alleviated, it will just be me doing the driving instead of Dad with the school change, unless he gets his wish of full custody.  Dad already told me and the mediator that he is going to request a child custody evaluation for full custody, this is supposed to take 60 days.  

I haven't received the mediation report yet.

We were told that the session in front of the Judge will only be 5 minutes. What is the best way to present this new circumstance and my new request to keep our schedule the same after I requested initially that it change?

The new school is on a different schedule and starts in less than 60 days. Will Dad be able to send him to the new school in the mean time?

Thanks for your advice.