Dedicated
to Family Law
In November we tried a parenting plan modification where we represented the mother. The parent’s had an equal residential schedule that the father was seeking to modify. Prior to our firm entering the case, the parties saw an arbitrator who ordered the mother’s residential time to be every other weekend. The mother had that decision set aside and the trial judge reinstated the parties’ equal schedule. Then, the father set a motion for temporary orders and the Commissioner adopted the arbitrator’s every other weekend schedule for the mother during the school year and a 50/50 schedule during the summer. When summer arrived, and just after the mother’s first full week of visits, the father accused the mother of causing bruising to the youngest child while spanking him. The father reported the bruising to CPS and the mother was charged with domestic violence assault against child. The family law court reduced the mother’s contact with the children to professionally supervised visits. Our office took over the case at that point. The mother’s visits were professionally supervised for a year while the trial date was continued several times while the mother’s criminal case was pending. The mother ultimately entered a guilty plea to that charge. The mother was subsequently charged with a domestic violence assault against the father after an exchange the parties had after one of the mother’s supervised visits. That charge was pending when the family law case went to trail.
At trial, the court entered a parenting plan that reinstated the parties’ equal 50/50 residential schedule after a four month transition period and requires the father to pay the mother child support once the equal residential schedule begins.
