Apparently, showing up for court isn't the only thing that W. hasn't been doing. According to the report from the guardian, W. never paid the $250 retainer, returned her phone calls, accepted the documents she mailed to him or completed the court-ordered hair follicle test. What he did manage to do is set up a meeting with the guardian ad litem (to which he never showed up at all), then later completely terminate his visitation schedule with Jellybean, telling the guardian that he is done with the whole ordeal.
Although the reports from Safe House stated that W. appeared to be responsible and reliable during his visits there, the guardian ad litem stated in her report that she could not recommend unsupervised visitation at this time. Let's face it, throughout the time that we have been in the court system (just since October) W. has had resided at three different addresses, bounced back and forth with two different employers, and went an extended period of time without a reliable phone number. He has also bounced back and forth--on record--between wanting to be a part of Jellybean's life and backing out all together. If this doesn't scream UNSTABLE, then I don't know what does.
This report is a vital piece of information--not only to our case, but to the judgemental eyes that have been watching over my shoulder. Yes, even though I'm the reliable parent who is looking out for my child, I have still received some pretty harsh judgement.. It's only natural, I suppose. Friends and relatives of W. wouldn't want to admit that it is their guy who screwed up. So they deem me a wicked baby-hoarder, using my child as a tool to punish my poor, innocent ex who just wants to love his family, dammit!
Truthfully, it really wouldn't matter if I were a wicked baby-hoarder, using my child as a tool and such. The court system isn't going to throw out a good parent. Or even a half-ass parent who may be capable of keeping their child alive for a few hours. His parental rights or lack thereof is in no way my decision. All I can do, is present the evidence (See: this, this, THIS, this, and this.) and let the courts decide what is best according to the law.
Your final tip in How To Impress The Guardian Ad Litem is to do whatever he/she says. Easy enough for all of you parents who are worth half a lick. For the rest of you, well, you probably don't care enough to be researching this kind of information, so likely aren't even here. Best of luck to all of you who are looking out for your child(ren)!
I was divorced in 1999. I have a question for you...I live in NH and finally after 2 years have a GAL on the case. My ex wants primary custody of our almost 15 year old daughter. He lives in Utah with his girlfriend. He only pays child support because it is through the state. All other monies he and his lawyer dodge and weave to pay. How can I impress on the GAL that my daughter is mature enough to decide if she wants contact with her father? He (in my opinion) is doing this to get at me and cannot see past his anger. He says that I am mentally unstable, alleges in court documents that I am abusive and her stepfather is also abusive. Anytime I ask for evidence he does nothing and neither does his lawyer. There is so much more to this case. I just want my daughter to be allowed to make decisions on where she wants to live and with whom and what she does on her vacations. Thanks!
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