Question:
My daughter is going through a lot of problems and I think she needs therapy. Unfortunately, her mother is protesting and has threatened to get attorneys involved.
Our daughter only sees a therapist when he is in my care as to not conflict with her mother’s parenting time. Is it legal to have her see a therapist?
Answer:
While I am not licensed to practice law in your state and cannot give you legal advice, I can give some general observations on this issue based on the jurisdiction where I practice.
Technically, the parent who has legal custody of the child will have decision-making rights as to whether the child should be in mental health counseling.
If you have full legal custody then you can put the child in counseling without input from the mother. If you have joint legal custody, then you should try to discuss the matter with the child’s mother and if she disagrees, then she can’t put the child in counseling.
You should alert the child’s school and particularly the schools’ counselor to the situation so that they can provide support as needed. You might also get a journal for your step-son to use to write down his feelings and issues, be sure to respect his privacy and don’t read the journal yourself.
I would suggest that you contact a domestic litigation attorney to discuss the matter in more detail.
To arrange an initial consultation to discuss divorce rights for men with a Cordell & Cordell attorney, including Nebraska divorce lawyer Nancy Shannon, contact Cordell & Cordell.
My son’s biological grandmother on his father’s side babysits him about every other weekend give or take and there’s never been an issue. She even would call and ask me if they could go to the park Which is less than a block away. This time when I texted her when should I come get Brody (it was about 5 on a school night) I got a strange text back that said blank wants to know when she can come get her son what should I tell her? it took me a minute then I realized my child wasn’t with her. I tried to call her and she didn’t answer so I texted her that I was on my way and I knew something was up so she called me back and told me that she had let Brody and his dad go to the gas station less than two blocks away and they should be back in a second. So I said okay I’ll be there in a half an hour I was Furious but didn’t show it my son didn’t show up with his Dad for another hour and 45 minutes. The police were waiting outside they did not ask me for the papers that I brought along with me to prove that I have responsibility of him that night and they didn’t treat me that great over the phone and Pat had left so she didn’t have to talk to the police or take any responsibility but my eight-year-old son did tell me that his grandma knew they were going to Jess’s house that’s his dad’s girlfriend. The police were looking for Brody and questioning everybody for quite some time they called grandma and Grandma did not tell them where Brody was even though she knew where he was and we could have found him a lot sooner if she hadn’t of lied to me and the police what should I do I am less than a week away from getting sole parental responsibilities because the father said he wanted nothing to do with the child and then he kidnaps him. I don’t know this for sure but it’s because he wants Brody in his life when he wants him but 80% maybe 95% of the time it is an inconvenience and that is why my son has gone through a lot of anguish with his father neglecting him and passing out drunk and couldnt be woken up. Can I press charges against the grandmother for letting my child go with a non-custodial parent without asking or telling me and can she be charged with something for lying to me about not knowing where Brody was and lying to the police as well?