Justice Talking is an excellent program on National Public Radio. If you've missed the program, however, you can listen to it at their website www.justicetalking.org
On my way somewhere else today, I happened to find a program titled The Tug of War Over Children. It aired in January 2006, but you may listed to it on your computer at this link.
The focus of the program is stated in this Overview:
With over 40% of marriages ending in divorce, the battle for child custody and support are among the most common and contentious disputes heard by our nation's courts. What do judges look at when making custody and child support decisions? Do moms get an unfair advantage?
What happens when one parent snatches the kids and hides them from the other parent? Should teenagers get a say in where they live? Join us on this edition of Justice Talking as we take a deeper look at family law and ask what happens to the kids when parents break up?
The presenters are: Professor David Mayer and Joan Meier. Prof. Mayer is a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law and a leading scholar at the intersection of constitutional law and family law. He is a member of the American Law Institute. Joan Meier is Professor of Clinical Law at the George Washington University Law School.
Shared custody advocate Dr. Ned Holstein and Joan Meier, a law professor, debate the social implications of battles between moms and dads over custody.
Ned Holstein is a divorced father of two adult children and is the custodial parent of his third child, a senior in college. Ned graduated from Harvard College, then obtained a Masters degree from M.I.T. before attending Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is the founder and president of Fathers and Families.
Joan Meier is Professor of Clinical Law at the George Washington University Law School. In 2003, she founded the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project (DV LEAP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing appellate and amicus representation in cases of legal importance. Her research and publications focus on domestic violence, criminal procedure, civil rights, and child custody.
Do you need help with a child custody case? Find a Michigan Family Lawyer near you.
Hello Yvette,
Unless your husband's custody / parenting time judgment or order has a "parental preference" provision stating that if a parent cannot care for the child or children during his/her normal parenting time he/she must give first preference to the other parent, then the mother cannot insist that the children be in her care if your husband is out of town on business.
I suggest that you write a letter to the Friend of the Court to document your complaints. Likely nothing will happen, but at least you will establish a record that these negative behaviors are occurring.
Posted by: Jeanne M Hannah | July 26, 2009 at 08:48 AM
My husband has had to take temporary work in Texas. He is there during the week and is home for the weekends. He has the standard 16th district visitation. We are trying to work his work around his summer parenting time. But sometimes is delayed by a day or two. His ex wife showed up on my porch demanding the kids back because he was not yet home. There is no order in there settlement giving her the right to do that. She has been a constant problem since we married 2 yrs ago. The children are 7 and 3. She is always putting them in the middle asking them questions about us and bad mouthing my husband and I. We have an order that states no derogitory remarks but she continues to do it. Do you have any suggestions.
a stressed step mom:(
Posted by: Yvette Hunter | July 25, 2009 at 03:37 PM